In the February 25, 2023 Senate election, voters of Anambra Central decisively chose Senator Victor Umeh over the then-incumbent Senator Uche Ekwunife. Umeh polled 103,608 votes to Ekwunife’s 49,532.
That was a clear rejection of the previous status quo. Recycling a mandate the people already moved on from would ignore that verdict.
Analyses of the 9th National Assembly (including a USAID-sponsored appraisal) highlighted high numbers of stagnated or dumped bills among Anambra senators. For Senator Ekwunife, reports cited roughly 29 bills sponsored, with about 10 dumped or stalled despite some that passed.
High sponsorship volume does not automatically equal completed, impactful outcomes. Anambra Central does not need to return to a period already assessed for unfinished legislative business.
By contrast, Senator Umeh as the incumbent is delivering measurable support now—scholarships, constituency interventions, and focused representation.
Through the Anambra Central Scholarship Programme and Victor Umeh Education Foundation, he has supported hundreds of students with direct fee payments (including ₦37 million for one cohort of over 200 and ₦64 million covering more than 320 students drawn from communities across the district). Reports also credit him with attracting dozens of infrastructure projects (roads, classrooms, solar boreholes, health facilities, and more) across the seven local government areas, plus targeted advocacy such as repeated calls for ecological disaster zone status amid erosion and flooding.
A fresh example of this grassroots focus just happened at Adazi-Nnukwu. Chief Sir Victor Umeh (OFR), Nwannedinamba Adazi-Nnukwu and the distinguished Senator representing Anambra Central, donated an electric transformer to St Andrews Catholic Church, Adazi-Nnukwu.
The installation will enhance power supply not only to the church but also to parts of the Amata Clan axis around it. This is concrete, doorstep community development—improving daily life for residents and worshippers—rather than distant or incomplete initiatives.
Senator Umeh remains focused on bringing such projects directly to the people. Continuity with an incumbent already executing scholarships, infrastructure, and visible local interventions is the lower-risk path. It builds on momentum already underway instead of resetting representation that voters judged insufficient in 2023.
Anambra Central has moved forward; the practical choice is to sustain the delivery that is happening now.
–Pamela O.
Political Analyst and Political Columnist writes for Daily Buzzwire.
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