By Afolayan Adebiyi

Extreme political beliefs, with resultant violent destructions of lives and properties, are an uncommon occurrence in the South Eastern zone of Nigeria. These hard-line political tendencies are peculiar to the Northern and Western regions. The notorious 1964-67 “Wild. Wild West”, code named “Operation Wetie” and the several post electoral mayhem in the North, most recently Bauchi, Gombe Kano and Kaduna in the aftermath of the 2011 presidential election easily come to mind. Indeed, not few woild forget the “soaking the monkey and baboons in their blood” rage that consumed some Youth Corps members in Bauchi state.

The East, despite their Republican nature hardly stray apart politically. They always, predictably put their votes en-block in a single basket. This became more pronounced with the return to Civil rule in 1999. Since the first election to usher in democracy in 1999, it has been the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), all the way. This is in spite of the presence and efforts of civil war leader, late Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu. He founded an alternative platform, called it “Igbos party”, yet could must little support from his people.

Perhaps, the zone had calculated that the most elusive Presidency would fall on their laps, via the late former vice president, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, but alas, an Olusegun Obasanjo, a retired general and former Head of State, was drafted in at the last minute from a Correctional Centre to contest. He picked the ticket ahead of the cerebral Ekwueme. The Igbos were devastated, but not aggrieved.

When late Umar Musa Yar’dua was installed as President with Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as his vice, hope rose in the zone. The thinking in the zone was that a South Easterner would succeed Yar’dua. But this, although by mere Providence, was not to be. Yar’dua died suddenly while in office and Jonathan took over and to worsen matters, Jonathan lost his re-election to President Muhammadu Buhari of the rival All Progressive Congress (APC).

By this time, the generality of the leaders, elites, clergymen, activists from the zone had found a home in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Embarrassingly, Ojukwu, a civil war leader, and former presidential adviser, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, could not found their feets in the zone till both died. Ojukwu only succeeded in winning his Anambra State. Others states simply ignored the once adored, folklore war leader. Okadigbo could not deliver any seat for his All Peoples Party (APP) till he died. By then, the romance with that party at the Centre appeared irreversible, hence the shocks and disillusionment when the rival APC won the 2014 presidential election. The people immediately turned against the ruling party with reckless abandon. Destabilizing agitations took over the land.

While the PDP could not provide enough positions for all the gladiators clamping inside it, an explosion started. First was Rochas Okorocha in Imo State, then Dr. Chris Ngige in Anambra State, before a sprinkling of others started.
The nominations of presidential candidates of parties would have passed without incidence, but certain dynamics played out in the parties. The two major parties were watching each other, while planning for a “winnable candidate”.
In the PDP’s camp, the thinking was that the ruling party, APC would explode, once the presidential nomination is done. The thinking was that President Buhari would muscled his way and present his Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Chibuke Amaechi or his vice president, Professor Oluyemi Osinbajo. The calculation was that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu would broke away from the party. But they were sorely disappointed by how the nomination went through. Asiwaju emerged in a keenly contested party primaries, defeating Amaechi and thirteen others.
To confront the heavy political machinery of Asiwaju, PDP eventually had to settled for an old war horse, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, thus jettisoning its constitutions. PDP merely jettisoned the zoning arrangements in the face of political expediency. Peter Obi and Nyesom Wike became enraged. Sensing the grand plan, however, Obi had played a fast game. He had written to the National Chairman, Dr Iyorchial Ayu resigning his membership of the party long before the primaries. Wike stayed put, obtained the forty million naira (#40m)presidential nomination form. He lost the nomination, and has since became ungovernable within the party.
Never before have the politics and political temperature in the South East region of the Country reached this alarming level, almost close to the Civil war era. Even during the active days of the late leader of the zone, Dr. Nnamid Azikwe, the Owelle of Onitsha, divergent views and opinions were freely expressed. “But sadly, not any more now”, lamented a Clergyman, Dr. Nwokike Harrison .

Since 1999, when the nation was preparing to return to civil rule, the politics of the zone has been somewhat been cold, indeed very cold. Two late charismatic politicians, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu and Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, who would have provided the necessary spice, lost the steam so suddenly. Okadigbo died after a tear-gas attack at a campaign ground in Kaduna, while campaigning towards the 2006 presidential 4election, while Ojukwu lost the battle to old age, immediately after he helped installed Mr. Peter Obi as the governor of Anambra State, using his pet project, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Ever since 1999, elections in the zone were predictably one way, save occasional swinging’s of votes for certain individuals. The political barometer, also, hardly gives any warning signal. This is because all known leaders, elites, clergies, students’ activists were in the same boat, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) . But not any more. The romance with the PDP by the leaders and elites from the zone have started loosing bounds. Fresh faces are coming up, so are fresh voices. Amongst them is Professor Charles Soludo, a former Governor of the country’s apex bank, now the governor of Anambra State.
Although, Soludo is not your archetypal politician. He is very urbane, cultured, exposed and well educated, with a Doctorate degree in Economics. But in the game of power, and in politics, all these niceties count for a token. But street doggedness and political shenanigan attract a very high premium. These invaluable political requisites, he seems to have acquired in large quantum, from his decade of relationship with the top echelon of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Today, he sits top of Anambra State, as its Governor.
Soludo started out as one of the Obasanjo’s think-tank boys. He was one of the young intellectuals the former President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999 – 2007) trumped up to sell his government to the ultra conservative Bretton Woods institutions, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, (World Bank), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the international community. Obasanjo’s successor, late Umar Musa Yar’dua was to further propped him up the ladder of power. He wanted him installed the Governor of Anambra State, immediately after tumultuous tenure of Dr. Chris Ngige. The plan collapsed on May 8, when the news of the death of President Yar’ardua was announced. His successor, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was not bought into the plan. Soludo, nonetheless, contested the election on the platform of PDP, but lost miserably to Mr. Peter Obi, of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Soludo was to come back in a most dramatic manner. He had contested the governorship election in 2010 under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), while Obi contested under the platform of APGA. Obi won. Ten years down the line, the two combatants had now swapped party’s affiliation. While Obi moved to PDP, Soludo crossed over to APGA. Another round of the governorship election came in the year 2022, Soludo faced Obi’s protégé, this time he prevailed. Obi and his stooge lost.
Meanwhile, all along, Obi has been nursing his presidential ambition. having ran with the a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar in 2019 against the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. If PDP had being honest to its gentlemen’s zoning arrangement, the South, ought to produce the candidate. And based on his 2018 outing, Obi, believed it was his turn, to fly the banner of his party, PDP.
He therefore, kept his presidential ambition intact in PDP, at least, formally till April, 2022 when calls were made for the obtaining of expression of interest forms. Realising he might not have the financial muscle to defeat a former Vice President, Atiku Abubarka and others, and that the vice presidential slot was not certain, he swiftly wrote to the Chairman of the Party, Dr. Iyorchial Ayu, intimating him of the resignation of his membership of the Party. In a matter of days, he simply moved to Labour Party (LP), outmuscled Dr. Pat Utomi, to pick the party’s presidential ticket. Today, he is the Alpha and Omega of the LP.

An attempt to “put the record straight” by Soludo while appearing on a Channels TV on Tuesday (14 November) has blown off the lid on all pretentions in the zone. The Igbo’s apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, it’s world counterpart, have led a band of “cyber army” deployed to tear down the governor. He was alleged to be a betrayer and jealous of Obi’s achievements and rise in national politics.
Soludo himself acknowledged the brutal cyber assaults when he wrote later in the day, “my attention has been drawn to some of the tirades on social media following my frank response during an interview on Channels TV regarding the “investments” Mr. Peter Obi claimed to have made with Anambra State revenues. Sadly, several of the comments left the issue of the interview to probe or suggest motives, inferred from my response on “investment” that I am opposed to Peter Obi’s ambition and therefore committed a “crime” for which the punishment is internecine abuse and harassment even to my family. Some people even suggest that the gunmen who went to attack a checkpoint at my hometown on Saturday 12th November but were gunned down was part of the mob reaction. I used to think that for decent people, certain conducts are off-limits, and that in Anambra, politics is not warfare”.
The governor lamented further that “in his time, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was the undisputed all time leader of the Igbos but he had his arch rivals and even independent candidates won landslide elections against his party, NCNC, in Igboland. Obafemi Awolowo had stiff opposition among the Yorubas while Ahmadu Bello had his share of opponents in the Northern region. Today, no one has accused Afenifere or other strong presidential candidates from the South West of being “anti Yoruba” because Tinubu is a frontrunner, nor has anyone accused Kwankwaso and several other Northern candidates of being “anti-North” for not supporting Atiku. As a full blooded republican Igboman and democrat, I reject this despotic intolerance”, he said defiantly.
Perhaps, the Ohanaeze and its flanks believed the Peter Obi’s aspirations as the Igbo’s project. But in all reality, this is the race for Nigeria’s presidency. The race is never straight nor even. The race is ominously long and tortuous; a marathon on a skippering, slippery and rocky grounds, full of turns and bends, and brutally unpredictable. The final lap of the race to the Presidency in Aso Rock is slated to come up on Saturday, February 25, 2023, when Peter Obi shall, alongside twenty-three others co-contestants, be anxiously awaiting the Independence National electoral Commission (INEC)’s declaration of the winner of the Presidential election.

Soludo apparently recognized the challenges that lay ahead, but his traducers did not. He defiantly wrote further: “Everyone knows that I don follow the winds nor one to succumb to bullies, nor shy away from a good fight especially when weighty matters of principles and future of the people are involved. One lesson I learnt from my former boss and mentor, President Obasanjo, is never to be on the fence. I learnt that one must always take a stand: for better or for worse. I do so with every sense of humility, and leave history to judge. Most people have commended me for “tactfully avoiding being drawn into the Peter Obi issue” until now. Since I am now being forced into the Arena on this matter, I have a duty and a right of reply, if only for the records, and to also give the social media mob something substantive to rant upon and rain their abuses for weeks. In this preliminary response, there are some things I will refrain from saying here because, in the end, February/March 2023 will come and go, and life will continue”.
He cautioned his cyber attackers further, “at the outset, let me state that this exhibition of desperation, intolerance and attempt to bully everyone who expresses the slightest of dissent is reprehensible. This is Hitler in the making. When the revered Arch Bishop Chukwuma stated that in Enugu State, they were not obedient, he was ferociously bullied on social media. Any dissent is tagged a saboteur or, in my case, it could be that I want to contest for president after office or that I am envious of Peter Obi. Soludo envious of Peter Obi? Totally laughable! But this is the same person I was asking to return to APGA in March 2022 and contest for president and yet envious or doesn’t want him to be president. This is madness! Seriously speaking, the obdurate attempt to muscle the republican Igbos to maintain the silence of the graveyard is antithetical to everything Igbo. It is not who we are. Insulting other ethnic groups and religions or denigrating others is certainly not the path to Aso Rock. If this is not checked, it may indeed endanger the future political and economic interests of the Igbos”.
Granting that because Obi is deep in the mix for the presidential race, he may not notice all around him and that since Soludo is not, he could see better. Soludo www.focusmagazineonline.com can recalled has just began a first four year term as the governor of Anambra State. Therefore, Soludo do not in any way, have any serious stake, save the needs to garner good support for the candidate of his party, Professor Chukwuma Umeadi.
While Umeadi may not garnered enough votes to be a threat to any one, but the results from his Anambra constituency will determine who is the boss, politically in the State. And that is the crux of the political tensions now thteatening to tear apart the State.
Although, the APGA’s candidate, Umeadi has not really taken the battle seriously, unlike Obi. But not for Soludo. He wants to affirms his political superiority in the State. And this is rumbling the hornets’ nest in the South Eastern state.
Adding more fuel to the raging fire is the Igbo’s apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo. The group has taken the Peter Obi’s aspiration as the Igbo’s project, hence treating all dissenting voices, or contrary opinion with disdain. The group has not taken kindly to what it perceived as “Soludo’s embarrassments of Peter Obi”.
Reports have it that a section of the organisation has even taken steps to report Soludo to some terrible deities in the land. It is that serious.
The apex socio-cultural lashed out at Anambra State governor, Charles Soludo, over his comment on the former governor of the state and presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi. This was as the Igbo group said it had dragged Soludo to two deities in Igbo land, for “discrediting the legacies of Peter Obi”. The group spoke in a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, on Tuesday (14 November).
Dragging governor Soludo to the two famous divinities and deities (Chokoleze in Mbaise and Ubiniukpabi in Arochuku) for “his unreasonable public behaviour”, according to a Clergy man, Dr. Harrison Nwokike is ridiculous and a fertile ground for mayhem later, either before, during or after the election”.
Dr. Nwokike blamed the Ohanaeze for taking sides in this political tit-tat involving two brothers from Anambra State. He cited the treatment meted out to Rev. Fr. Mbaka when he first criticised Obi. He believes the group might be innocuously preparing ground for terrible reactions to the announcements of the presidential results.
“I am afraid of a repeat of the infamous ‘wild. wild. West’, here in the East”, he warned.
But still, despite all warnings, the Ohanaeze stuck to its guns, insisting “Governor Soludo’s actions are ridiculous, unreasonable and premature; there was no locus for the Governor’s outburst and the sanctions against Soludo to face Igbo deities will serve as a deterrent to South-East politicians who have been hired by enemies of Ndigbo and Nigerians to derail the Obi’s presidency in 2023.
The group held that “Governor Soludo exposed and indicted himself of treachery when he discredited APGA and Labour Party’s presidential candidates as not viable alternatives to win the 2023 elections”.

Also, another branch of the igbo group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide described a statement made by Soludo on former governor of the state and presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi as “ridiculous, unreasonable and premature”
The group which is different from its counterpart, Ohanaeze Ndigbo headed by George Obiozor further revealed, in a statement, that it had dragged Soludo to deities in Igbo land, for discrediting the legacies of Peter Obi.
www.focusmagazineonline.com can recalled that Obi had been making huge campaign issues of his performance in Office while serving Anambra State as the Governor. He mentioned the investments he made on behalf of the State, and how a mere 12 million US Dollars investments less than ten years ago now worths over 100 million US Dollars. Soludo is a First Class Economist. He once superintended the Apex bank of Nigeria, Central Bank of Nigeri as its Governor. He did not felt comfortable with the figures Obi was banding about. Before, it is too late, he decided to unmasked the truth behind it all. The salvos were predictably unpalatable to the camps of Obi and his Obi-dients Movement.
Apparently exasperated by Soludo’s treatise, Godfrey Ekenna, an Editor with The Telegraph newspapers commented. ‘as in every democracy, I don’t expect every Igbo to support Peter Obi. It is not in our nature. I also don’t expect every Yoruba or Northerner to support Tinubu or Atiku. But it would be absurd for any South West or Northern Governor to write this kind of Soludo’s epistle against any of their own. It is not only shameful and disgraceful but drips of political immaturity, distaste and outright suicide contemplation’.

But while Obi kept hammering to the hysteric applause of all, his more than sterling performance records as the governor of Anambra, Soludo kept quiet. Perhaps, kept quiet a bit too long. But he was bound to speak at a point. The opportunity arrived. He was on Channels TV Tuesday (8 November) morning. The questions, most expectedly snowballed into Anambra State and how Obi left it.
Soludo literarily tore into shreds Mr. Obi’s claims of golden performance while in office. He revealed that the much touted investments Mr. Obi is laying claims to now counts ‘next to nothing’.
Soludo has hardly left the studio of the Channels TV when Obi’s supporters took over the cyber space, raining hot expletives on him. To worsen the matter, gunmen attacked a check-point near Soludo’s village on Saturday (12 November). The attack on the social media were so intense that Soludo had to resort into writing a damming treatise stating his case, his several invitations to Obi to lead an Igbo project and his thought on the present condition of Ndigbo in the country today. ‘History Beckons and I will not be Silent’, Charles Soludo, an Economist and governor of Anambra state angrily wrote.

Soludo had cryptically cried out rhetorically: ‘When will Ndigbo understand and learn politics, especially of Nigeria? When Bola Ahmed Tinubu defied the political wind of the time and stood out as the ‘only man standing’ in Alliance for Democracy (AD) and later Action Congress (AC) (before ACN) against a sitting president of Yoruba descent, no one accused him of being ‘anti-Yoruba’.
He continued: “Indeed, everyone recalls that both Tinubu and President Obasanjo disagreed politically, and probably still disagree but none is being accused of being “anti- Yoruba”. Under Tinubu, the South West strategically organized under a different political party, the ACN and went into a formidable alliance that kicked out a sitting president (in Africa?), and that alliance is not broken yet. Igbos, in their frenzied Nzogbu nzogbu politics, have sadly found themselves in a political cul de sac. Tragic indeed! When will my people smell the morning coffee?”.
Soludo praised the efforts of all of his predecessors in office. “I always said that all of them did well and to the best of their abilities. Yes, Peter Obi was governor for eight years (2006 -2014) during a period of unprecedented oil boom and prosperity in Nigeria (Nigerian economy was growing at average of 6-8% per annum, and oil price was highest during this time). I have seen all kinds of funny comments and interpretations regarding what I said about the value of his “investments”. Some refer to SabMiller and bandy all kinds of figures as to how the investment of $12 million is now worth less than $3 million. Of course, there is room for legitimate debate about the logic or quality of the investments. For example, people might differ as to the propriety of using taxpayers money to promote a company in which one is a shareholder in the name of “investment”, or even whether so called “savings” are warranted when there were dozens of schools without roofs or classrooms, or local governments without access roads or hospitals without doctors/nurses. A Bishop recently publicly advised that I should please try to construct the ‘Ngige type of quality roads’, stating that the ones done by his successor (that is, Peter Obi) had washed off, while Ngige’s remained. I promised and we are delivering quality roads that Anambra has not seen before.
Soludo was baffled that Obi’s supporters could ‘funnily, in the rabid frenzy to grab every straw, they cut a clip during our governorship debate where I was stating vital statistics and they claimed that I was ‘praising’ Peter Obi then while committing a crime now by ‘criticising’ him. Hahahaha! Well, it is true that I said during the debate that, according to National Bureau of Statistics, poverty in Anambra actually grew (from less than 25% in 2005) to about 53% under Peter Obi in 2010/2011 but fell under Willie Obiano to 14.78% in 2020. Yes, poverty more than doubled under Peter Obi and more than 50% of Ndi Anambra were in poverty under him. Go and verify! I am Governor, and sitting on privileged information which I will not want to use against a political opponent. But on matters of facts, I will always state same as is. As the saying goes, you can fool some of the people some of the time but never all the people all the time. Enough said for now!
He continued: “for sure, prudence in public resource management is desirable and we are opening new frontiers in that area. People will however differ as to whether saving money in the bank account is a KPI (key performance indicator) for a government where poverty is escalating except where its institutions for absorption are weak or where the government has no robust/big agenda for transformation. Governments exist to save lives, not to save money. We can debate and differ on this2 (by the way, I know when/how it is appropriate to “save” as I built Nigeria’s foreign reserves from $10 billion I inherited to all time $63 billion, and even after paying $12 billion to pay-off Nigeria’s external debt and going through unprecedented global financial crisis, I still left behind about $45 billion.
“To conclude, let me once again wish my brother Peter Obi good luck. He should have fun and enjoy the fleeting frenzy of the moment. But he must moderate the desperation as exhibited by his social media mob. There is a limit to propaganda. A mob action often reflects the character of its leader. No one has a monopoly of social media violence, and no one should play God. Life won’t end by February/March 2023.
Soludo ended his treatise with a clarion call to Obi. He begged him to come back to APGA he recklessly abandoned after the demise of Ikemba Ojukwu. “I hope that after February 2023, Peter Obi will return to APGA (the party that made him everything he is politically) as I offered him on 8th March, 2022 and begin the hard work, if he truly wants to be president of Nigeria. It won’t happen by desperately jumping from one party to another or by unleashing a social media mob on everyone who slightly disagrees with you. I decided to pen my views personally again for the records. On this, I don’t mind being a one man minority. As history beckons, my conscience and sense of duty to my people dictate that I should never be silent. I will happily accept the judgment of history for standing by the truth!
“Let’s be clear: Peter Obi knows that he can’t and won’t win. He knows the game he is playing, and we know too; and he knows that we know. The game he is playing is the main reason he didn’t return to APGA. The brutal truth (and some will say, God forbid) is that there are two persons/parties seriously contesting for president: the rest is exciting drama! That many Americans may not like the fact that Joe Biden (79 years) and Donald Trump (76 years) are two frontrunners for president in their parties does not remove the fact that if both of them emerge as candidates, definitely one of them will be president in 2024.
He added: “As my brother, I wish him well and even pray for him. I told him during his courtesy call that my prayer is that himself or Prof Umeadi of APGA would win, why not? That is from my heart, but I also told him that my head and facts on the ground led me to know that it’s probability is next to zero (what I cannot say before you, I won’t say behind you). So I already told him my opinion. Indeed, there is no credible pathway for him near the first two positions, and if care is not taken, he won’t even near the third position. Analysts tell him you don’t need ‘structure’ to win. Fantasy! Of course, LP won governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun on social media and via phantom polls, while getting barely 2,000 votes on ground. Creating a credible third force for presidential election in Nigeria requires a totally different strategy and extreme hard work.
“Of course, Peter Obi will get some votes, and may probably win in Anambra state as ‘home boy’. But Anambra is not Nigeria. If he likes, I can even campaign for him but that won’t change much. From internal state by state polling available to me, he was on course to get 25% in 5 states as at August this year. The latest polling shows that it is down to four states, and declining. Not even in Lagos state (supposed headquarters of urban youths) where Labour Party could not find candidates to contest for House of Reps or Senate. The polls also show that he is taking votes away mostly from PDP. Indeed, if I were Asiwaju Tinubu, I would even give Peter Obi money as someone heading one of the departments of his campaign because Obi is making Tinubu’s pathway to victory much easier by indirectly pulling down PDP. It is what it is!
He blamed the current fleeting frenzy on politics of emotions the Igbos are playing. He cautioned, “if not checked, will cost Ndigbo dearly for years. The South East has the lowest number of votes of any region, but it is also the only region where the presidential race might be a four-way race (it is a two-way race in the other 5 regions) thereby ensuring that our votes won’t count in the making of the next president of Nigeria. Afterwards, we would start complaining that we don’t get “what we deserve” or cry of marginalization. During the 2019 presidential election, the five South East States were united for PDP but contributed merely 1.6 million votes to PDP which was about the votes that Kano state gave to Buhari. The emotions might run to heavens but politics-power is about cold calculations, organization and building alliances for power. In a democracy, it is a game of numbers. So far, I don’t see any of these, and 2023 might again be a wasted opportunity for Ndigbo! What is our Plan B when Peter Obi loses in February 2023? Some people prefer that we should play the Ostrich while Peter Obi toys with the collective destiny of over 60 million Igbos. Yes, you pray that he wins, but what if he fails as he is certain to? The Bible says that my people perish for lack of knowledge. As the saying goes, only those who Plan can control the future. Ndigbo, wake up and smell the coffee!”
He asked rhetorically: “Where do we go from here? I listened to my friend Gov El-Rufai on TV explaining why the northern governors decided that power should shift to the South. According to him, they asked themselves what would their founding fathers—Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa or Aminu Kano have done in the circumstance. Today, I ask my people, Ndigbo: do we ask what Azikiwe or M.I. Okpara or Akanu Ibiam would do in the present circumstance? I worry that Ndigbo as Nigeria’s foremost itinerant tribe and with the greatest stake in the Nigerian project does not yet have a strategy to engage Nigeria—politically! Every four years, we resurface with emotive Nzogbu Nzogbu political dance (“it is our turn dance” but without organization or strategy) and fizzle out afterwards while others work 24/7 strategizing and organizing”.
But Obi would not allowed the literary and verbal assault go unreplied. He gave a timid, philosophical response to Soludo’s long treatise.
He defended the controversial investments thus: “When you spread your investment, some go up, some would come down. But over all, the company is still there, the company is still doing well. It is still part of a global chain and everything.
He tried to defrayed the atacks by saying ‘I needed to explain it not because I am defending comment by my brother. My brother is my brother , he remains my brother. We are very close. I remain prayerful for him.
Obi went philosophical: ‘For other things which I didn’t succeed, God has given him the opportunity to do it and succeed. For me, yes, if there is anything pending, governance does not finish. People are still in government in America. So you stop where you stop, other people will continue from there.
He however, threw a daunting challenge on the governor: I don’t look back. He is the governor of my state, I will always respect him. He’s my senior brother and even more intelligent than me, because he is a professor and I am a trader. So he knows more. So he will be able to do things better than I am doing it.
You know I have done my little own as a trader, now that a professor is there, he will do his own as a professor. The school’s I didn’t roof, you roof. That is how government goes. If another person comes, do his own and but let us think about…”
While Obi appeared meek, Ekenna was not ready for any political niceties. he said: ‘You have a right not to support his ambition, which if you do, in any case, does not guarantee his victory. But keep your trap shut and focus on turning Anambra to Dubai as you promised. Writing a whole New Testament against Obi does not show you have delivered the hope placed on you by those who voted you in. Soludo, what you wrote is beneath you. There are governors in the East, who don’t support him. They have maintained stoic silence. Peter Obi himself has not insisted he will win but he is the only Igbo man, after Alex Ekwueme to have had a national impact. With the way things are going, what if he wins? Obi in his character will forgive Soludo but can we forgive Soludo as Igbo people? My answer is no. Always know that the Igbo have both reward and punitive measures in place. Sorry Mr Soludo.
However, a certain Dr Nick Obidiukwu believed that ‘in the face of Obi’s wilful determination to misrepresent facts, it would have been irresponsible of Soludo to allow the former Governor get away with his falsification of Anambra’s public records. Free flow of verified information is a basic requirement for good governance and progressive society.
According to him, “if the exposure of Mr Obi’s lies has hurt his presidential ambition, he has only himself to blame. He should leave Soludo alone and deal with his penchant for playing to the gallery”.
He added: “In the instant case, Obi provoked the reaction of Soludo and others with continued lies about his handover package in 2014. Whereas he handed over N44b in cash, savings and investment and debt of over N127b, he deceives the public with the figure of N75b. See Vanguard newspaper of November 15, 2015 for the Obiano administration’s repudiation of N75b handover. Part of the wrongful and inadmissible entries of the phantom N75b =assets are these old investments that predated Obi’s government by decades. Emenite Industries, Enugu, is one instance. N1.4b was invested in Beverages but recorded as N3.5b. Donor agency counterpart funds were included as investment! Same for N2.2b agriculture loans given to farmers! All these were part of the assets inherited by the next government! If the announcement on this flawed documents had been made just once, the errors would easily be passed over as an oversight. But Obi and his propaganda team have persisted in publicizing the disinformation, thereby underlining the deliberateness of their action”.
Dr. Obidiuku was of the opinion that “the brewery investment is not a scandal for Obi and his media mob that Anambra State money was ploughed into a business in which their hero is a part – owner. On top of that, Obi’s propaganda organs periodically told the world that it invested 20m dollars. Anambra State Commissioner of Finance, Ifeatu Onejeme was forced to issue a statement clarifying that the true equity investment was 12m dollars. Obi and his riot squad would not apologize for their misconduct. Rather, his propagandists abused the Commissioner as they have abused Professor Soludo for speaking up”.
He disclosed that Dame Virgy Etiaba was to be punished for her perceived closeness to the impeachment actors of 2006. She was put on media trial for squandering N17b in the three months she acted as Governor. It eventually turned out that the State’s account balance at the time Etiaba took over was about N8b.
He blamed Obi’s “attempt to be seen as a super achiever, which has left him without sting of conscience. He has been saying that he neither borrowed as Governor nor left debts behind for his successor. Is there no limit to duplicity?
“He claims he never borrowed as a governor and that he left a surplus when he left office as a governor. Records at the Debt Management Office don’t support this. Anambra’s External Debt was $15 million by December 2007. At the time Obi left office in June 2014, the state’s external debt climbed up to an astronomical $41 million. That’s a 173 percent jump!”, he added.
He further disclosed that “it’s also a similar case with the noise of not owing anybody while handing over in 2014. Local government staff pension was owed, ABS pension was owed, Water Corporation salaries were owed. Contractors were owed”.
Dr. Obidiuku revealed that “so resolute and so cunning has Obi been in this project of self glorification that the Obiano administration spent valuable time correcting the distortions his predecessor dropped around at every opportunity.
He was particularly infuriated by some of his populist oriented claims. “And there are many other pontifications like having only one wristwatch, two pairs of shoes and not using bullet – proof vehicles”.
Worried by the recent developments, Dr. Nwokike Harrison, a clergy, told www.focusmagazineonline.com that he could forsee a repilca of the ‘Wild. wild. West’, looming over the Eastern zone of the country. He blamed those who have provided a political platforms for sundry criminals, armed robbers and loafers to operate freely.
‘It is not about Obi-dients alone. It spreads across. Desperation have taken over the political space’, he noted.
in all these, Soludo remains defiant and firm. He believes “of course, as a Christian, I know that telling the truth can be very costly, even suicidal. Our Lord and saviour was crucified simply for telling the truth the people did not want to hear. I promised that I won’t be the usual politician, and will not knowingly lie to the people. I am not an Angel but rather than knowingly repeat the same deceitful character that politicians are known for, I would leave public office. It is a vow I made to my God and to my family. Only God knows how many days I will be on this seat but whether I am on it or not I will always say it as it is… knowing fully the suicidal consequences of telling the truth in a political arena, especially in a country where lying and deceit by politicians have become culture and celebrated as being “smart”.

He pointificated finally, “ideally, I should just have laughed off the infantile exuberances as many friends advised (I am used to this, having been in the “Arena” for a while). I always re-read the quote “The Man in the Arena…” by President Theodore Roosevelt (1910) to remind myself of the burden of public office. Several well meaning Nigerians and Ndigbo called to advise that I should just ignore them. A respected Igbo elder-statesman who called, advised that I should just ignore what he described as “Peter Obi and his social media mob”. According to him, “everyone knows that he is going nowhere, but they are looking for who to blame”. After some 20 minutes of discussion, he advised that I should personally author a response just for the records”.
Governor Soludo however, revisited the fulcrum of the controversial interview with the Channels TV. and insisted “I stand by what I said”.
www.focusmagaonline,com (C2022)