New Telegraph

APGA’ll sustain Anambra’s developmental strides –Anyanonu

Chief Chike Anyanonu is a former member of the Anambra State House of Assembly. In this interview with OKEY MADUFORO, he speaks on the forthcoming governorship election in the state and why he is backing the candidacy of ex-governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)

 

 

Looking at the political situation in Anambra State, the impression most people have is that everybody is in the race to win. Do you share this view?

 

I must say that the November election in Anambra State would be free and fair and credible irrespective of the number of those contesting. I have gained experience in politics before now. I have been a member of the Anambra State House of Assembly for Onitsha North II Constituency and I was a Special Adviser to the then governor of Anambra State on Legislative Matters before I returned to my business.

 

 

Don’t also forget I had contested for the Federal House of Representatives seat for Aguata Federal Constituency under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and we all know what happened to that contest and the role some people played in what appears to be a charade.

 

But today I am back to politics because it has become necessary that I take part in the making of a better Anambra State. My interest in Anambra politics under this dispensation is to ensure that they popular will and aspirations of our people are actualized by enthroning the best among the crowd of contestants to the number one seat of Anambra State

 

You have been a member of the PDP; under what platform are you going to participate in the November election?

 

Yes, in those days it was the PDP but when you understudy what has been going on in the party, you will agree with me that this is not the PDP that we know. The party has been affected by several crises and fictionalization. So, under such circumstance, how do you expect the party to win the election?

 

Be that as it may, we have the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) a party that has in the last 16 years or so been able to carry the masses and the electorate along.

 

The party has been able to correct that disconnection between the government and the people and the party has a track record of achievements to show for and people have come to appreciate that fact.

 

So, it is my view that APGA is the party that would sustain the developmental strides and good governance that we are already enjoying at the moment and that would be vehicle to actualize these goals.

 

So, I am in the party as a member and to contribute the much I can to the success of the party in the November 6 governorship election in the state. Besides, when you consider the membership and followership the party commands, you will discover that this is the party to beat and the party is like a mass movement.

 

 

Looking at the APGA candidate, Prof. Charles Soludo, some people are of the view that he appears too elitist and not well connected with the masses. How true is this assumption

 

? That is no true. He has been up there and operated at a higher level, you can’t take it away from him in view of his level.

 

However, Soludo has been a home boy. He is a grassroots person and we know that.

 

Being a grassroots person and a home boy, you cannot say that he is too elitist. He is from a humble background; go to his home town and ask questions and they will surely tell you that Soludo is at home.

 

Going by his profile and his international connections, some people may have the impression that he cannot be reached or that he is not approachable. But far from it, he believes in rational judgement and you need to convince him to accept your line of thought.

 

That does not mean that he knows it all and he has listening ear. It is important to make it clear that with Soludo as a governor, it is not going to be governor for professors as he understands the society being an economist and social scientist.

 

May be those who are classifying him as being too elitist are doing so because of his profile and they are afraid that they cannot match him during the election, so they would want to use every means to create a false impression about his personally.

 

Come to think of it, his contributions to the stability of our banking sector and by extension the country’s economy shows how well experienced and prepared to manage the affairs of the state.

 

Soludo’s opponents are aware of his capability and capacity to deliver as expected but the only thing they are not comfortable with is that he is not going to be Father Christmas by sharing public funds to individuals when those funds should be channeled to areas of need and for the good of the masses.

That is why some people feel that he will not listen to them. Gone are those days when governance is all about sharing money.

 

Anambra has passed that stage and when you look at successive administrations in the state, you cannot help but to take the state to the next level by leveraging on what the other administrations have done so far.

 

Anambra governance is no longer business as usual and the masses must come first before any other thing. How would you feel after all he has done towards improving the economy of other countries and Nigeria as well as all his postulations and he now become a governor to do the opposite of what he is preaching.

 

Comparatively, how do you look at the other contestants to the position?

 

I am not saying that Soludo is the only qualified contestant in Anambra but we are looking at what the state needs at the moment. We are looking at someone who will continue this process and not stop it on the road.

 

We are looking at someone who will be the proverbial wood pecker that would dig deep and bring out the best from the state and ensure that the developmental strides of Anambra State do not stop on the way.

Having been at the apex bank in the country, he is in a better position to understudy Anambra State and its fiscal status and then fashion out ways of managing the finances and that is to his own advantage over and above other contestants in this election. Soludo needs no introduction to any Nigerian let alone Anambra State.

 

For APGA as a party, the battle has been won more than 50 per cent and being a political party that has the interest of our people at heart, what is left is to do the needful by ensuring that come November 6, he is voted into office as the governor of Anambra State for the good of the people.

 

In 2010, Soludo contested on the platform of the PDP and did not win; what may have accounted for that?

 

I call whatever that happened then as history and every Anambra person can tell the story of what took place as it were. The crisis in the PDP was also a contributory factor as well as several levels of conspiracy against his candidacy.

 

Even those who claimed to be supporting us had their own personal agenda and while we felt that we are together, something else was taking place and you know how it all ended after that election. I have not ventured into active politics and I returned back to my business.

 

But when it became clear to me that Soludo still have yet another opportunity to serve our people,

 

I returned to the field of politics to make this happen and it is my belief that Soludo’s time has come and everything is falling into place for both APGA and Soludo. You know that he had made an attempt before in APGA which did not materialise.

 

 

So, when Governor Willie Obiano was going for his second term, he choose to support him to complete his tenure and continue with his governance and he indeed threw his weight behind Obiabo and he was vindicated when Anambra People reelected him.

 

There are political powers blocs that determine the fate of contestants in Anambra elections, how will Soludo manage them?

 

When you mention political power blocs, you remind me of the days of godfathers and that has been the bane of Anambra politics. Incidentally those power blocs have come to appreciate the fact that politics is for the good of the people in general and they would not want the state to return to those days when personal interests come first above the common good of the people.

 

Those power blocs are Anambra people and they know the grave implications of playing politics with the lives and collective interest of Anambra people. Soludo has been interfacing with them and many of them are on the same page with his agenda for our people.

 

So, I want to clear the air here that those you call political power blocs are not problems but part of the solutions and we shall take it from there.

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