By Pascal Ibe

Introduction

For two decades, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has firmly remained in power in Anambra State, Nigeria’s South-east.

Regarded as an indigenous party for the South-east people, the party came into the limelight in 2006 after the court ruled in favour of Peter Obi, the former governor of the state and 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) who contested the Anambra State governorship election in 2003 under the APGA platform.

The court in 2006 nullified the election of Chris Ngige as governor and installed Obi.

APGA has produced three governors in Anambra State since 2026. The party also majority of lawmakers in the state assembly.

Professor Charles Soludo, who is serving his second term in office as a governor under the APGA, has faced criticism from the supporters of Obi over his support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

In recent weeks, the Anambra State Government and Obi have been in a series of arguments over a debt-free claim by the NDC presidential candidate.

Claim

As a result of this, a supporter of Obi on the X platform has claimed that APGA is demanding Governor Soludo’s resignation from the party.

The X user, @exclusivejojo, made the claim (archived here) on 3 October and the post reads, “Even APGA is asking Soludo to resign from the party.

“Peter Obi is coming”

The comments that followed indicate that many people, especially Obi supporters, believed the claim.

See comments here and here.

Verification

First, when FACTWATCHNigeria reached out to the APGA national spokesperson, Ejimofor Opara, who is also one of Governor Soludo’s spokespersons, he immediately debunked the claim.

He told this fact-checker during a telephone conversation on Sunday that the claim emanated from the camp of mischief-makers.

According to Opara, people on social media recycled an “April video” protest by an aggrieved APGA member and his supporters who lost an election in Oyi council area of the state.

He advised this fact-checker to run an independent forensic analysis on the said video.

However, we could not find or access the video he referenced to us during the conversation.

In July, APGA backed Governor Soludo and endorsed Tinubu’s re-election, explaining that the absence of the party’s presidential candidate’s name on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination portal should not be interpreted as a failure to comply with electoral guidelines.

APGA said the party’s leadership had already resolved to back Tinubu’s re-election bid after what he described as extensive consultations within its ranks.

As of Sunday 4 October, there is no news report from any credible news organisation in Nigeria that APGA is demanding Soludo’s resignation.

Verdict

Findings have confirmed that the claim that APGA is demanding Soludo’s resignation is FALSE.