…Launch Special Sticker for His Re-election
As the November 8, 2025 governorship election in Anambra State steadily draws closer, Tricycle (Keke) riders in Anambra state have thrown their weight behind the second term bid of Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
Angel Network News (ANN) reports that
the Keke operators, under the aegis of the Anambra Keke Drivers’ Forum (AKDF), made their position known on Monday during a special interactive session held in Awka.
The Keke drivers also unveiled a campaign sticker in honour of the Governor and to further mobilize support for his second term.
Speaking at the event, the Organizer and Coordinator of the Forum, Comrade Osita Obi said their endorsement and the unveiling of the sticker were in recognition and appreciation of Governor Soludo’s good governance, his numerous people-oriented projects, and the positive impact his administration has had on Keke operators and the general public.
Comrade Obi, who is an activist noted that Governor Soludo had, in less than three years, demonstrated uncommon leadership and proven himself to be a visionary, courageous, and masses-oriented leader with the political will to address long-standing issues, reform the system, and transform the state.
Obi praised Soludo for his massive infrastructural development across the state, especially in rural and urban roads, which he said had drastically reduced vehicle maintenance costs and eased the movement of commuters and Keke riders.
He commended the Governor for eliminating over 70% of the touts and illegal revenue agents who once harassed and extorted Keke drivers, noting that such extortion was rampant under previous administrations.
Obi stressed that the Anambra Keke Drivers’ Forum was a true union of genuine Keke riders, unlike other self-acclaimed unions he described as “cartels” that were run by individuals who don’t own or ride any Keke but exploited and imposed levies on the real riders.
According to him, AKDF is a government-recognized body, founded on the principle that only real Keke drivers can be its members and leaders.
This, he said, was in line with Soludo’s directive to sanitize the Keke transport sector and return it to the hands of professional drivers, rather than political agents or self-imposed leaders who never rode a Keke but dominated union leadership for selfish gain.
Highlighting the uniqueness of AKDF, Comrade Obi described it as a people-focused platform that does not impose indiscriminate or exorbitant levies on its members like other unions. He listed previous burdensome charges levied by those cartels, including ₦50,000 registration fees, ₦4,600 end-of-year party dues, ₦450 daily tickets, bucket and emblem levies, and even burial levies —practices he said AKDF has firmly rejected under Soludo’s leadership.
While specifically commending the Governor for listening to the voice of the people and suspending the Keke emblem levy and others, which he said were being used to exploit Keke drivers; he lauded the
introduction of a fairer, single and more transparent ₦8,000 monthly tax that now goes directly to the government without middlemen He explained that although the state government initially pegged the
monthly tax at ₦15,000, AKDF wrote to the Governor and appealed for a reduction, leading to its review down to ₦10,000 and later to ₦8,000.
“So, Keke drivers now pay less officially, as against before when they paid higher unofficially,” he stated.
While describing the endorsement event as a strategic in-house activity ahead of a grand rally, he disclosed that the Forum is already mobilizing between 7,000 and 15,000 Keke riders for a massive public
declaration of support to the Governor once the campaign season officially begins.
According to him, the Forum is not a praise singer or a mere support group looking for handouts at political rallies, but comprises real grassroots voters with PVCs, fully prepared to come out and vote en masse for Soludo on the election.
Comrade Obi further called on the government to expedite plans for a democratic election of union leaders among Keke drivers.
Also lending his voice, the State Chairman of the Forum, Comrade Ifeanyi Okafor, said Governor Soludo’s road projects had positively changed the transportation
experience of Keke operators in the state. He noted that some roads that previously took over an hour to ply now take only 10 to 15 minutes, thanks to the Governor’s infrastructural interventions.
“If the constitution allowed it, we would be asking Soludo to go for a third term. But since it doesn’t, we are saying he must go for second term. We, the Keke riders in Anambra, are behind him,” Okafor declared.
In his remark, the Onitsha and Ogbaru Zonal Coordinator of the Forum, Comrade Ugochukwu Adiele, recounted the harrowing experiences of Keke drivers before Soludo assumed office, including extortion, violence, and abuse from touts and impersonators who disguised as union officers.
According to Adiele, before now, no day would pass without any story that touts killed a Keke driver in Onitsha. He, however, attested that the difference now is clear, and applauded the Governor for restoring sanity, dignity, and security to the profession; while also assuring that they would do everything possible to see that Soludo does not struggle to win his second term come November 8.
A Keke rider in the state, Yahaya Abdul Emmanuel, who hails from Kogi State who plies his trade in Anambra, testified that he had never felt freer and more respected in any other state than in
Anambra under Soludo’s leadership.
He described the Governor as a detribalized leader whose policies protect everyone regardless of origin, and encouraged his fellow non-indigenes to continue supporting him.
Yahaya also recalled that, previously, two or three Keke drivers could not gather together to discuss anything, without a tout coming there to inquire who gave
them the authority to gather and what they were discussing. He however said they now have freedom of association, as those things and their days of nightmare were over since Soludo took over.
