As the November 6 governorship election draws close in Anambra State, the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Prof Chukwuma Solduo, has come under fierce criticisms over reports in the media that the Accord party governorship candidate, Dr. Godwin Maduka, Dr Ifeanyi Uba and others are to step down for him.
Reacting to the report, a chieftain of Accord party and an avowed supporter of Dr Maduka, Mr. Vincent Anaedo, said it is unthinkable for Dr Soludo or his supporters to imagine or contemplate in their wildest dream that Dr. Maduka will step down for him.
He said Dr. Maduka stands a better opportunity to win the Anambra state governorship race than Soludo, who is relying on the incumbency factor of Governor Willie Obiano, to win the election.
Anaedo said Soludo’s candidacy has already been rejected by his political party, APGA, which necessitated the defection of the State Deputy Governor, Nkem Okeke and some members of the Anambra State House of Assembly, from APGA for the APC.
His words “If Solduo was truly acceptable to the entire stakeholders and members of APGA, the deputy governor and others would not have left APGA in droves to another political party
“This shows he is an unpopular candidate, rejected by his partymen and women, a development which will translate to his rejection at the Anambra state governorship election on November 6
Mr. Anaedo continued “ Soludo posses divisive tendencies, considering what has happened in APGA in Anambra state lately. This shows he will rather divide the people of Anambra state than unite them if he becomes governor.
He said Soludo will ruin Anambra state, the way he ruined Nigeria’s economy with his policies when he was governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.
He said “ In 2015, Dr (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo Iwuala, then Minister of Finance, now Director General, World Trade Organization (WTO), took Soludo to the cleaners, accusing him of single handedly mismanaging the country’s banking sector between May 2004 and May 2009, and plunged the country into an incredible accumulation of liabilities that cost tax payers about N5.67 trillion”
“Mrs Iweala also described Soludo as an embittered loser in the Nigerian political space who is so derailed to commit intellectual hara-kiri by deliberately misquoting economic facts and maliciously turning statistics on their head to justify his hatchet job.
Anaedo said based on Mrs Okonjo’s comments about Soludo in 2015, it will be a big risk for the people of Anambra state to elect him as their governor.
“Mrs Okonjo Iweala is a world renowned economist and she is respected globally. If she said this about Solduo, then the man is unfit to govern our state. How can the people of Anambra state trust a man whose knowledge of economics has been condemned by a world renowned economist such as Mrs. Okonjo Iweala.
He said there is no basis for comparison between Dr. Maduka and Soludo, on the grounds that Maduka has towered above Soludo in all ramifications.
“Maduka had invested his personal resources of $400 million dollars in Anambra state which boosted the GDP of the state. He owns the largest pain medical facility in the U.S and replicated same here in Nigeria by building a 17 storey medical facility in his home town in Umuchukwu. What evidence has Soludo shown to the people of Anambra that he can govern them”he said.
He advised leaders of the party, co ordinators of Dr. Maduka at the LGAs , at the wards and across the State, to disregard the misleading information that Dr Maduka intend to leave the race for Soludo.
He said such report ia the figment of the imagination of Soludo and his cohorts, who are afraid of the chances of Dr.Maduka to win the Anambra governorship contest.
He added that Maduka remains the most popular candidate in the contest, being the only candidate who has visited all the 326 wards in Anambra State, a feat which earned him widespread acceptance and support from the good people of Anambra State.