By David Onwuchekwa
President Bola Tinubu’s scheduled visit to Anambra State on May 9, 2025, comes at a politically charged moment for the South East, and the directive barring members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) from wearing party uniforms is far from a trivial detail, it’s a calculated political maneuver.
On the surface, the ban seems like a bid to preserve decorum and unity during a presidential visit. But beneath it lies a complex web of political tensions, strategic alignments, and looming electoral contests. This isn’t just about what party faithful are wearing, it’s about what their silence, or invisibility, might signify.
Anambra is APGA’s stronghold, and APC has long viewed the State as ripe for the taking. With the 2025 gubernatorial election on the horizon, the political atmosphere is thick with rivalry.
Tensions were already heightened following President Tinubu’s appointment of figures like Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, an APGA affiliate, to high-profile roles, a move that triggered cries of betrayal from Anambra’s APC members. The feeling that the President has overlooked his party’s loyalists in favour of political expediency has caused visible fractures in the local APC base.
By banning party uniforms, the organizers of Tinubu’s visit are likely trying to prevent this discontent from boiling over in public. It’s a symbolic silencing of partisan conflict, an attempt to project a façade of unity and national focus, at least for the cameras. But the real divisions haven’t gone away; they’ve just been cloaked in civilian clothing.
Civil society voices, including the Civil Liberties Organisation, have called for an end to the “cold war” between APGA and APC in the State.
This directive may be seen as a concession to those calls, aiming to avoid open confrontation and keep the event peaceful. Yet, one has to ask: does concealing political tension make it go away, or does it simply push it underground?
Ultimately, this decision is a subtle but sharp reminder of how politics is performed in Nigeria, not just through words and policies, but through symbols, colours, and optics.
Barring party uniforms during this visit is not just about peace; it’s about narrative control. It is a message that, for now, national unity must be seen to outweigh partisan interests. Whether that message resonates or backfires will become clearer as the election season heats up.
