On August 2, 2025, Charles Soludo, the governor of Anambra State and the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), was said to have accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of plans to rig the gubernatorial election. Soludo was reported to have made this remark at the rally held at Ekwulobia Urban Stadium in Aguata Local Government Area of the state. The rally was organised for Emma Nwachukwu, APGA’s senatorial candidate, ahead of the bye-election slated for August 16.
In a report published by The Nija Sun, the governor was quoted as saying he “used the opportunity to warn against political distractions, accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) of plotting to rig the forthcoming governorship election in the State.”
CLAIM: Charles Soludo accused the APC of plotting to rig the Anambra State gubernatorial election
VERIFICATION:
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that the Anambra governorship election will hold on November 8, 2025. According to the timetable, campaign activities have begun since June 11, 2025 and party candidates have swung into action.
The CDD War Room found that Charles Soludo, the incumbent governor of Anambra State, who doubles as the governorship candidate of APGA, is seeking a second term in the 2025 governorship election. Hence, he has started campaigns and canvassing for support. We found that he attended the campaign rally held at the Ekwulobia Urban Stadium to solicit support for himself and the party’s candidate for the Anambra South Senatorial district by-election.
We found that during the campaign, Soludo did not accuse the APC of plotting to rig the Anambra State gubernatorial election. In the video clip retrieved from the campaign rally at Ekwulobia Urban Stadium, he said, “ We don’t know anyone else who is contesting, but we will be contesting as if we are the underdogs to unknown opponents. But some of them that we hear are contesting are contesting for appointments….. You can’t even win one ward without rigging, and you are going around collecting money from people.”
VERDICT: FALSE
The CDD War Room found that Charles Soludo attended and spoke at the campaign rally organised for him and his party’s senatorial candidate in Ekwulobia Urban Stadium. However, during his speech, he did not mention the APC as planning to rig the election, as contained in the viral claim. We found that he mentioned that some candidates can not win an election without rigging, and did not specify which party they belong to.
We also could not find any credible news source reporting the claim, even though they reported incidents from the campaign rally. We can therefore confirm that the claim is false.