APGA Snatches Anambra South, Onitsha North 1 By-elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday declared Chief Emmanuel Nwachukwu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) winner of the Anambra South Senatorial District by-election held on Saturday, August 16.

Officials of the commission also named Mimih Ifeoma Azikiwe, a lawyer from the famous Ikpeazu family in Onitsha, as the winner of the Onitsha North 1 State Constituency by-election.

Nwachukwu polled 90,408 votes to defeat Chief Azuka Okwuosa of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 19,812 votes, and Donald Amamgbo of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who secured 2,889 votes.

The senatorial election, contested by 16 political parties, was conducted to fill the vacant seat left by the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.

Ubah, who was first elected in 2019 on the platform of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) and re-elected in 2023, later defected to the APC before his death in 2024.

Nwachukwu, a former President-General of Ukpor, will also be the first politician from Nnewi South Local Government Area to occupy the senatorial seat once inaugurated.

In the Onitsha North 1 State Constituency, Barr. Ifeoma Mimih Azikiwe was declared the winner of the by-election held on Saturday.

Announcing the result, the Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Ibiam Ekpe of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, said Azikiwe polled 7,774 votes to defeat Mrs Justina Azuka of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who scored 1,909 votes.

Justina is the widow of the slain lawmaker who previously represented the constituency before he was kidnapped on the eve of Christmas 2024. His body was later discovered in the bush near the Second Niger Bridge on February 6, 2025.

Mr Ezennia Chuka Ojekwe of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Ms Njideka Ndiwe of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) received 1,371 and 655 votes, respectively.

Azikiwe will join the Labour Party’s Hon. Nkechi Ogbuefi of the Anaocha 1 State Constituency as the second female legislator in the eighth Assembly upon inauguration by the Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly, Dr Somtochukwu Udeze.

Political close watchers say Saturday’s by-election in Anambra is regarded as a foretaste of what to expect in the November 8 governorship election in the state.