The battle for the Nigeria Democratic Congress ticket in Anaocha 1 Constituency, Anambra State, has entered a fresh phase as two politicians continue to claim the party’s nomination ahead of the 2027 House of Assembly election.
The dispute involves the incumbent lawmaker and NDC Deputy Minority Leader, Nkechi Ogbuefi, and Azubuike Okoye, who has also been presenting himself as the party’s candidate. Punch reports that the controversy may not be resolved until the Independent National Electoral Commission publishes the list of candidates for the state House of Assembly election.
Ogbuefi insists that she remains the authentic candidate after participating in the party’s screening and primary election. She alleged that Okoye neither purchased the NDC nomination form nor participated in the party’s screening or primary process.
According to Ogbuefi, the party had agreed that serving lawmakers would receive automatic tickets, after which she was returned as the candidate for Anaocha 1.
She also claimed that a Federal High Court proceeding affirmed her victory in the party’s primary and that the NDC had maintained that Okoye’s name was never submitted as its candidate.
However, Okoye has refused to engage in a public argument over the matter, saying the issue should be settled by INEC’s official publication.
He said he would wait for the electoral commission to release the names submitted by the NDC before declaring himself the candidate, arguing that the publication would settle the competing claims.
The NDC Anambra State Chairman, Ikem Uzoezie, also declined to disclose the candidate submitted to INEC. He said the commission had already uploaded presidential and National Assembly candidates, while candidates for the State House of Assembly would be published the following week.
The Anaocha 1 dispute is attracting particular attention because the constituency is associated with NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi.
With the party yet to publicly settle the competing claims, the publication of the INEC candidate list is expected to provide the clearest indication of who will represent the NDC in the constituency in the 2027 election.
