Governor Soludo, you’re in breach of campaign finance laws

 

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC ought to disqualify Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo. Why? He’s gunning for third term as a governor.  Meanwhile our law only permits two terms for a governor. That’s on a lighter note anyway. Yes, he was former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria from 2004 to 2009, a position he was appointed to by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Thus, he’s been elected as Anambra governor once and is eminently qualified to seek reelection. I foresee a victory for him on November 8, 2025 when he will be contesting to retain his governorship seat under the All-Progressives Grand Alliance.

Soludo is a brilliant economist who graduated with a first class at the University of Nigeria Nsukka and became a Professor of Economics at the tender age of 38. His tenure as CBN governor was memorable as he successfully carried out bank consolidation exercise under which there was mergers and acquisition of money deposit banks leading to fewer but stronger banks.

Over the weekend the Anambra governor stirred the Hornet’s nest when he promised cash reward to every political ward where he wins on November 8. This newspaper in its Sunday, October 26, 2025 edition (online) reported that Governor Chukwuma Soludo has stirred controversy after announcing cash reward for every ward won by his party, the All-Progressives Grand Alliance, in the forthcoming November 8 governorship election. While speaking on Saturday during the party’s campaign rally in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area, Soludo promised to give his party supporters N1m.

He said, “When we were campaigning for the Senate, we knew we were going to win every ward in the South Senatorial Zone, but we still had some incentives. Any ward that APGA won received N1m, and we won all the wards in Orumba South. We promised each of these wards N1m and next week, we will redeem it. The ward that comes first will get N5m, the second N3m and the third N2m. That was the deal. For November 8, any ward that wins again will receive N1m, while the first three performing wards will get N5m, N2m and N1m respectively.”

While many opposition parties and civil society organisations have condemned the move as a veiled vote-buying strategy, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, dismissed the accusation, describing the governor’s promise as a simple act of motivation to energise supporters. The commissioner accused opposition parties of deliberate mischief, insisting that the governor’s remarks were taken out of context. Furthermore, the All-Progressives Grand Alliance said on Sunday that Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo’s cash reward promise for every ward won by his party in the forthcoming November 8 governorship election is not an act of vote-buying but a strategic move to encourage healthy competition and voter participation across the state.

However, according to section 121 of the Electoral Act 2022, what the Anambra governor has done is blatantly an act of bribery and conspiracy. There are four paragraphs in subsection 1 (one) and I will just cite two paragraphs to buttress why Soludo’s cash reward is tantamount to vote buying. Section 121.—(1) says “Any person who does any of the following—

(a)  directly or indirectly, by his or herself or by any other person on his or her behalf, corruptly makes any gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement or agreement to or for any person, in order to induce such person to procure or to endeavour to procure the return of any person as a member of a legislative house or to an elective office or the vote of any voter at any election;

(d) after any election directly, or indirectly, by his or herself, or by any other person on his or her behalf receives any money or valuable consideration on account of any person having voted or refrained from voting, or having induced any other person to vote or refrain from voting or having induced any candidate to refrain from canvassing for votes for his or herself at any such election,

commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both.

It’s not only this section of the Electoral Act that Governor Soludo has ran afoul of. Section 88 (3) of Electoral Act 2022 says “The maximum amount of election expenses to be incurred by a candidate in respect of governorship election shall not exceed N1,000,000,000.” Giving the elaborate live transmission of the governor’s campaign across the 21 Local Government Areas of the state on national television networks as well as other campaign expenditures the governor has incurred so far, it is obviously in excess of the N1 billion ceiling.

I’ve also seen several groups and  local governments donating huge sums of money to support the re-election bid of the governor. For instance, Dunukofia LGA donated ₦611,638,700; Awka North Local Government Area contributed ₦150 million; the three senatorial zones have also made collective pledges: ₦50 million from Anambra North, ₦70 million from Anambra Central, and ₦100 million from Anambra South. This is just to mention a few.  

It is noteworthy that this is against the provision of section 221 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as altered which says “No association other than a political party, shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any candidate at an election” Section 88 (8) of Electoral Act 2022 also says “No individual or other entity shall donate to a candidate more than N50,000,000.” For the governor to gladly receive these financial supports from various LGAs is a clear breach of aforementioned campaign finance laws.

Electoral Act 2022 in section 134.—(1) says “An election may be questioned on any of the following grounds — (b) the election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non- compliance with the provisions of this Act. Prof. Chukwuma Soludo should tread carefully so that his political adversaries don’t invalidate his electoral victory by his act of negligence and indiscretion.

May I remind the Anambra State governor that former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was jailed for criminal conspiracy for accepting illegal campaign funds from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for his 2007 presidential campaign. A Paris court convicted him in September 2025, and he began his five-year prison sentence at La Sante Prison in Paris in October 2025, though he is appealing the verdict.

I.G @jideojong