Willie Obiano, the governor of Anambra State, has said that his preferred successor, Chukwuma Soludo, will win the state governorship elections in November, amidst threats of a state of emergency by the federal government.

“Professor Chukwuma Soludo will be the next governor of Anambra state,” Mr Obiano said after meeting with President Buhari on Thursday. 

Mr Obiano dismissed threats that election would not hold.

He said he has conferred with the president and has secured commitment for the reinforcement of security assets in the state for a smooth electoral process. 

“The guarantee we are given for this election is that the election will hold, we’ll have enough security to back the people and APGA,” Mr Obiano added. 

The Attorney-general of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami had on Wednesday said that the federal government could declare a state of emergency. 

Under the Nigerian Constitution, a state of emergency could only be declared in situations of large scale disaster or anarchy, giving rise to suspension of constitutional rule.

The proposal by Mr Malami has, however, been met with stiff criticisms from various groups and persons including opposition party PDP, sociocultural body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and rights lawyer Femi Falana.