The National Chairman of the National Rescue Mission (NRM), Chief Edozie Njoku, has stated that the party currently has no governorship candidate for the upcoming election in Anambra State.
Njoku expressed concern that the name published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in its final list of candidates was obtained through illegal means and therefore lacks legitimacy.
Daily Post had earlier reported on January 17, 2025, that Chief Njoku, who previously served as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), had resigned from APGA and was subsequently elected as the new National Chairman of NRM during an emergency national congress held in Abuja.
His position was later validated by a Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered INEC to officially recognize the leadership that emerged from the NRM’s emergency national convention.
The emergency convention was convened to fill vacant positions in the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and to address irregularities in its composition.
Despite the court ruling, INEC failed to acknowledge or appeal the judgment that mandated it to recognize the new leadership of the NRM. Justice Obiora Egwatu, who presided over the case (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/45/2025), ruled against INEC and directed the commission to accept the party’s new leadership under Njoku.
Nevertheless, INEC’s final list of governorship and deputy governorship candidates released on Wednesday included 40-year-old Ndidi Christy Olieh as the NRM’s gubernatorial candidate and Ogbe Ekene Reginald as her running mate.
Speaking to reporters in Abuja, Chief Njoku dismissed the INEC list, insisting that the party neither knows nor recognizes the individuals listed as its candidates.
“NRM has no candidate for the Anambra State governorship election,” Njoku asserted.
“There’s no candidate at all. INEC went behind to get the Secretary to field a candidate,” he alleged, explaining that all legitimate attempts to submit candidates through the proper party channels were blocked by the Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC.
“So how can you tell me that NRM has a candidate?” he asked rhetorically.
He concluded by expressing confidence that the party would soon secure formal recognition from INEC: “We’re getting our recognition from INEC sooner than you think—then we’ll do the mathematics from there.”