The Immediate past managing director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), George Moghalu, says the power of incumbency will not determine the outcome of the 2025 Anambra governorship election.

Mr Moghalu, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), said the people of Anambra would decide who would be their next governor in November 2025.

Mr Moghalu, in an interview with journalists on Sunday in Anambra, expressed confidence that the people would trust him with their mandate because the incumbent government had failed to meet their expectations.

“That is not to say that it’s a tea party. I have said, that an incumbent, whether incompetent or competent, is not a pushover.

“The ultimate decision is that of the people of Anambra State. The political class, the elite, the citizenry and everybody have a role to play,” said the aspirant.

Mr Moghalu, however, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to put Nigeria first and ensure the will of the people.

He said he decided to run on the LP platform after adequate consultations with the people, especially critical stakeholders in the state.

“By the end of the day, we came to the conclusion that LP is a veritable platform to realise my governorship ambition.

“And, since I am not in that process alone, it’s not about me; it’s about the people; I have to surrender my ambition to the wishes of the people. That’s actually what happened,’’ he said.

Mr Moghalu, a former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said he defected to LP based on the wishes of his supporters.

He said though he had left APC, of which he was one of the founders, he had nothing against the party.

Mr Moghalu said the political structure which he had built while in APC was part of the structures being banked on for next year’s election in the state.

He recalled that he contested the Anambra governorship election in 2003 and tried again in 2017 but did not get the party’s ticket.

Mr Moghalu said he also contested on the platform of APC in 2021, but the party’s ticket was given to someone else without a clear contest, which made him challenge the decision up to the Supreme Court.

Asked if he would leave LP if he did not get the party’s ticket, Mr Moghalu said his governorship ambition was not a do-or-die.

(NAN)