New Telegraph

Anambra guber: Soludo’s 2nd missionary journey

OKEY MADUFORO reports on the recent declaration by a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to run for the governorship position of Anambra State

 

It was pomp recently in Awka, the Anambra State capital as the Akunyili Women Development Centre played host to an unprecedented crowd of supporters drawn from the United Anambra Youth Assembly and United Anambra Women Assembly as well as over 27 members of Soludo support groups.

 

The gathering which was tagged “New Year Activation Meeting” of the two groups in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was aimed at preparing a template for the November governorship election in Anambra State. Resent at the meeting were the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Okafor; members of the state Assembly, some members of the State Executive council, local government chairmen and councillors.

 

In fact, the government of Chief Willie Obiano was fully represented at the occasion and Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was also in attendance. To most observers, it was the usual meeting of the two groups but it climaxed into what may be described as the official declaration of Soludo for the governorship position of Anambra State.

 

The former CBN governor, in the last two years, has being touted as the chosen one for the ticket of the ruling APGA in the state but he has always played down the speculation, promising to talk about the issue in July this year, apparently, after the party’s primary election.

 

However, he may have forgotten his “July promise” when in an extreme flow of emotion, he let the cat out of the bag by making an official declaration for the governorship of Anambra State.

 

The two bodies had in the last two years been appealing to Soludo to run for the governorship position of the state under the platform of APGA and he has continued to dribble them on the grounds that the timetable for politicking has not been released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

 

But just one month after the electoral body had officially announced date for the election, Soludo broke the prolonged silence hence putting an end to the permutations of if he would accept to contest.

 

Though he said that he is still consulting, he accepted the call by U- AYA and U-AWA for him to contest the governorship election under the platform of APGA.

 

The member representing Anambra East and West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Chinedu Obidigwe, who is the founder of the two organizations, set the ball rolling when he went down memory lane to recall the success stories of Soludo as the governor of Nigeria’s apex bank.

 

His words: “We are talking about a man who needs no introduction to anyone in Anambra State and indeed the entire world; someone who has been instrumental to the economic growth of most countries of the world and was the only saving grace of commercial banks and indeed the banking industry in Nigeria.

 

“We have continued to appeal to him to come and run for the governorship position of Anambra State, and today we are also unveiling the official poster of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo for the 2021 governorship election. We are yet to see any other aspirant, who can beat Soludo in APGA and indeed in other political parties. Even those other political par-  ties have pending internal crisis and we wonder if they would be able to come out of those crisis before the election proper.”

 

From Soludo’s response, it became clear that the professor of Economics has decided to heed to the call to run and that he will not disappoint his supporters. He said: “This is something that started in January last year and has continued with such a crowd of supporters and that shows that the hand of God is in this journey.

We have done it for Nigeria when I was CBN governor and those years were the golden age of Nigeria’s economy.

 

While in office, we created 12.6 million jobs and in Anambra we shall do more than that. “God has blessed me with good health, wealth and a happy family. Indeed, I am humbled God’s blessings and I am not asking God to give me this or that but I am asking him to use me as an instrument to touch the lives of people and I offer myself as that instrument in the hand of God to touch the lives of people.

 

“This journey is not a one man journey but a journey of all of us and if we remain united, we shall get to our destination by the grace of God. You do not need certificate to impact on the lives of the people and if you like, have all the university degrees from wherever but you don’t need those certificates to render service and good governance to your people.

 

“His Excellency Governor Willie  Obiano has done so well and that is to the credit of APGA and we shall sustain it. You will remember that the governor was going for a second term I said why are you want to mend it if it is not broken and I stand by what I said. For your information, I did not come down from the blues; I am a home boy who schooled in the village, took part in all the house and village activities while going to school.

 

“So, those who see me as being elitist should find out from those that grew up with me in my village. Anambra would be better and I assure you all that all of you who are part of this journey would also be part of taking the state to greater heights and not those from somewhere.”

 

Responding to Soludo’s speech, Hon. Obidigwe stated that there is no reason for anybody to begin to ask questions if Soludo is contesting the forthcoming governorship election as he has accepted their plea to contest under the platform of APGA. Obidigwe announced that U-AYA and U-AWA have commenced the campaign of 500 members for greater 500,000 members, which according to him, would bring the number of Soludo’s supporters to 2.5 million.

 

He added that the local government to local government as well as tour of the 362 electoral wards in the state has commenced.

 

Also speaking, the Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly. Hon. Okafor, described Soludo as the best for APGA, adding that with him candidate, the party is already coasting to victory. “It is not in doubt that our brother, Soludo, has the experience and firm knowledge of what governance is all about. Having managed human and material resources as the governor of the Central Bank, managing the affairs of Anambra State will not be a problem.”

 

 

The optimism, notwithstanding, there have been questions as to how free and fair the primary election of APGA would be since those at the corridors of power have endorsed him as well as the fate of other aspirants.

 

Observers say there is still the issue of the First Lady, Mrs. Ebele Obiano, who is said to have reservations for Soludo”s candidacy although the allegation has always been described as the machinations of fifth columnist sponsored by other political parties to run the party down.

It was gathered that the first lady is a great fan of Soludo but only insisting on a level play ground during the primary election.

 

The Special Adviser to the governor on Political Matters, Barr. Ifeatu Obiokoye, said that at the moment, it is not clear who the aspirants of APGA are adding that it is even earlier in the day to talk about the candidacy of the party.

 

Soludo is a first class brand and everyone knows that but the party is not foreclosing the conduct of its primary election and everyone that has the ambition to run under the party is welcomed,” he said.

 

No doubt, it is going to be a Herculean task for others aspirants on the platform of APGA going by the profile of Soludo, which is intimidating, and should the Obidigwe led U-AYA and U-AWA achieve its 2.5 million supporters drive for Soludo, it would be a done deal for Soludo as the trio of All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Young Democratic Party (YPP) will well kiss their dreams of taking over government house Awka good bye.

 

However, it is being feared that Soludo may meet a similar fate as he did when he ran under the platform of the PDP, when a grand conspiracy stopped him from becoming the governor in 2010.

 

The former CBN governor has to woo the elite class who may not be comfortable with his being governor as they claim that he cannot be controlled though he will do well as governor.

 

This angle has always been the bane of politics and governance in Anambra State as political godfathers always come with personal agenda and not the populist programmes that will move the state forward.

 

Successive administrations in the state had in the past battled these principalities, and in the course of that, some became overwhelmed hence abdicating their constitutional duties as chief executives, while those who confronted them were either sent parking or impeached through the instrumentality of the powers that be in Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

 

Conversely, Soludo has it going for him in that regard as his acceptability in Abuja is not in despite since he is a member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic team and may not see any reservations about his ambition. Interesting is the seeming relationship between APGA and the APC which has kept APGA alive. In the last general election, the APC as a party was at home with Governor Obiano’s second term against its candidate and the party was the first to congratulate him.

 

Also, APGA appreciated this gesture by ensuring that the constitutional twenty five percent votes was made possible in Anambra State for Buhari in the 2019 presidential election.

 

It is not in doubt that the APC would not want its perpetual rival, the PDP to win Anambra state being fully aware that the Anambra electorate have reservations for the party. But how this would be achieved remains uncertain as the calibre of aspirants in the PDP are personalities who can throw their weight behind one aspirant and return to power.

 

But APGA has an advantage since there are pending litigations against the leadership of the PDP in the state though the Court of Appeal in Abuja in a recent judgement ruled that the matter should be re-tried probono hence giving the party an opportunity to remain without cracks until November election.

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