It was a festive atmosphere at the Enugu South Local Government headquarters on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, as incumbent council chairman, Caleb Ani, secured a landslide victory to emerge as the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship candidate for the forthcoming local government election in Enugu State.
The APC primary election, held across the 13 electoral wards in the council area, produced a decisive outcome, with Ani polling 17,691 votes out of 20,078 registered party members.
Announcing the result at the collation centre, the election collation officer, Eze Jude Chuka, declared Ani the winner amid applause from party members and supporters.
The exercise was monitored by officials of the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC), led by Onyekachukwu Egbo, who confirmed that the outcome reflected what was observed during ward-level voting across the council area.
Speaking at the collation venue at the Enugu South Local Government headquarters, the Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, commended the process and praised the continuity of governance in the council area.
“It’s important that you take note that the way the governor rules about governance, his leadership, is really around key performance and about deliverables. Celeb Ani coming back as the mayor second term is not something that he will come back without having a plan. There is a strategy that underpins everything we do at the local government and at the state level,” he said.
Prof. Onyia added that the administration remained confident in Ani’s ability to sustain and improve on ongoing development efforts.
“So what Celeb will do will be to escalate the work he’s been doing and at the state level we will continue to track performance. So we are not in any way anxious that Celeb Ani will not exceed what he did before. That’s why we’re celebrating because his continuity of the good work he was doing before,” he said.
He further noted that the APC in Enugu State had remained stable due to synergy between stakeholders and leadership.
“So you can look at my side and my left and right stakeholders, critical stakeholders of Enugu South coming together today to acknowledge the decision that the governor made by listening to the grassroots… So we are not anxious,” he added.
Hon. Caleb Ani, in his acceptance remarks, attributed his victory to overwhelming grassroots support across the 13 wards of the local government area.
“I can tell you with what you can see in the atmosphere and within this very surrounding today, the massive crowd, organic crowd that is being coordinated from 13 wards that made up Enugu south local government in support of this very great movement… ensuring that dividend of democracy touches the grassroots,” he said.
Ani pledged to consolidate on infrastructural and human capital development while intensifying service delivery in his second term.
“We have a tremendous infrastructural development, human capital empowerment development within Enugu South local government… we are going to put more efforts to ensure that we consolidate on the areas that need improvement,” he stated.
He added that governance under his watch would remain focused on practical results rather than rhetoric.
“Not just about politicking, the era of politicking with people’s feelings and emotions have gone. Now it’s about reality and being focused and determined to serve our people,” Ani said.
The high point of the event was the formal presentation of the APC flag to Hon. Caleb Ani and his deputy by the Chairman of the APC in Enugu South, Hon. Freedom Nnam.
Other dignitaries who witnessed the collation exercise at the Enugu South Local Government headquarters included:
- Hon. Chimaobi Atu, Member representing Enugu North/Enugu South Federal Constituency
- Hon. Deacon Okey Ogbodo, Commissioner for Local Government
- Hon. Princess Obiajulu Ugwu, Member representing Enugu South Rural Constituency, Enugu State House of Assembly
- Rt. Hon. Offor Chukwuegbo, Former Member, House of Representatives
- Hon. Sam Ngene, Former Chairman, Enugu South Local Government Council
- Women groups and youth organisations
The exercise ended with celebrations at the council headquarters as party leaders and supporters hailed the outcome as a consolidation of grassroots political structure in Enugu South.
