…Opens up on inclusion in APC presidential campaign council
…Says Igbo identity no reason to back Obi
…Declares victory over Monday sit-at-home, says Anambra back to life
By Steve Oko
UMUAHIA — Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has said the Igbo must unite and build strategic alliances across Nigeria to stand a chance of producing the country’s president.
Soludo said the South-East must overcome political divisions and forge strategic alliances with other regions to strengthen its bargaining power.
He cited the alliance-building approach associated with First Republic political leader, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, arguing that the Igbo needed a broader national support base to realise their presidential ambition.
He also pointed to President Bola Tinubu’s political alliances as an example of the importance of coalition-building in securing power.
Gov. Soludo who spoke exclusively with Vanguard, declared that he and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) would support President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, explaining why he accepted an appointment in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council despite belonging to another party.
The Governor said APGA’s leadership had collectively adopted Tinubu for a second term and resolved not to field a presidential candidate, adding that the decision was consistent with the party’s tradition of supporting presidents irrespective of their political platforms.
He recalled that former Anambra governors Peter Obi and Willie Obiano had similarly supported presidential candidates from other parties.
Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Christian Aburime, Gov. Soludo said he had since, communicated APGA’s position to President Tinubu during the President’s visit to Anambra to inaugurate landmark projects, including the Government House, Solution Fun City and roads.
Obi’s Igbo identity no reason to back him
On expectations that Soludo should support his predecessor and the presidential flag bearer of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Mr Peter Obi, Aburime said the two politicians belonged to different parties and did not share the same political ideology.
He acknowledged that Obi was qualified to contest the presidency but maintained that shared ethnicity should not determine political support.
“Politics shouldn’t be based on emotion or sentiment. They have different ideologies,” he said, insisting that Nigerians should support parties based on their capacity to improve citizens’ lives rather than ethnic or regional considerations.
Aburime also dismissed the assumption that Anambra voters would repeat their overwhelming support for Obi in 2023, declaring that the political dynamics had changed.
“2023 is gone. 2027 is not going to be 2023,” he said, expressing confidence that APGA members would vote for Tinubu.
Defends Tinubu’s economic reforms
On the removal of fuel subsidy and foreign exchange reforms, Aburime said Soludo supported Tinubu’s economic policies, describing them as painful but necessary measures to address longstanding structural weaknesses.
He argued that the previous practice of printing money to sustain the economy was unsustainable, adding that the reforms would eventually yield benefits.
On whether Tinubu had influenced former President Muhammadu Buhari to adopt better economic policies, Aburime said it was impossible to know whether the President had offered such advice behind the scenes, noting that influence did not guarantee acceptance.
Kanu’s release will be resolved politically
On the continued detention of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu, Aburime said the matter had assumed a political dimension and would ultimately require a political resolution.
Soludo had previously visited Kanu in detention and pledged to work towards securing his release.
Asked why the governor had yet to achieve that objective despite his closeness and relationship with Tinubu, Aburime declined to comment extensively but said efforts towards a resolution were not over.
“The Nnamdi Kanu case has become a political case and it will be resolved politically,” he said.
Monday sit-at-home defeated, Anambra back to life
Soludo declared that the enforcement of the Monday sit-at-home order by armed groups had been defeated, with commercial and social activities returning to normal across Anambra.
He said vehicles were moving freely and major centres, including Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi were bustling with activities.
“The war has been conquered, and all the debris is buried,” he said, insisting that residents could now move around freely and that Anambra was back to life.
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