The Immediate past Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Dr George Muoghalu, says power of incumbency will not determine the outcome of the 2025 Anambra governorship election.
Muoghalu, a governorship aspirant on the platform of Labour Party (LP), said that the people of Anambra would decide who would be their next governor in November 2025.
Muoghalu stated these in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
He expressed confidence that the people of Anambra would trust him with their mandate, because the incumbent government had failed to meet their expectations.
“That is not to say that it’s a tea party. I have said it, that an incumbent, whether incompetent or competent, is not a push over.
“We are coming prepared, believing that we are going to market ourselves to the people.
“The ultimate decision is that of the people of Anambra State. The political class, the elite, the citizenry and everybody have a role to play.
“So, by the time I finish marketing myself, going around, presenting my programmes and manifesto and what I intend to do, I will now leave it to the judgment of the people to assess all of us and decide who they want.
“But I’m very confident, by the grace of God that I will fly the party’s flag and emerge victorious at the polls,’’ he said.
Muoghalu, however, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to put Nigeria first and ensure that the will of the people prevail during the election.
On why he decided to run on LP platform, Moghalu said that he came to that decision after adequate consultations with the people, especially critical stakeholders in the state.
According to him, in every political contest, the person and the platform on which he or she is running are critical issues.
Muoghalu said that in making his decision, he had deep consultations with his political associates, family, friends and the people of Anambra.
“By the end of the day, we came to the conclusion that LP is a veritable platform to realise my governorship ambition.
“And, since I am not in that process alone; it’s not about me, it’s about the people, I have to surrender my ambition to the wishes of the people. That’s actually what happened,’’ he said.
Muoghalu, who was previously a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said that he defected to LP, not because he had anything against APC, but based on the wishes of his supporters and the people of the state.
He said though he had left APC of which he was one of the founders, he had nothing against the party.
Muoghalu said that the political structure which he had built while in APC was part of the structures being banked on for next year’s election in the state.
He recalled that he contested the Anambra governorship election in 2003 and tried again in 2017 but did not get the party’s ticket.
Muoghalu said that he also contested on the platform of APC in 2021 but the party’s ticket was given to someone else without a clear contest, which made him to challenge the decision up to the Supreme Court.
“So within that time, I have built relationships and friendships across the board. So I couldn’t have moved without talking to them. I did quite a lot of consultations before joining LP.
“That was why I said that for any electoral contestation, two issues are critical, the person and the platform.
“So, for me now to be able to move, I must have talked to my people. Some said go, we’ll join you. Some said we are going to be where we are, but we’ll support you,’’ he said.
Muoghalu said he did not only have a better chance of emerging victorious in the party’s primary, but he had the knowledge, capacity, wisdom and other requirements to win election and govern Anambra.
Asked if he would leave LP if he did not get the party’s ticket, Moghalu said his governorship ambition was not a do-or-die.
“I keep telling people, it’s not a do-or-die thing. If you make yourself available to serve people and people say they don’t need you to serve them, what do you do? You will kill them for rejecting you? No.
“You allow the will of God to prevail and the wish of the people. So for me, it’s not a do-or-die thing,’’ he said. (NAN)
