The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius ABure, has said Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State was being selfish when he attacked his predecessor, Peter Obi.
Soludo had stated that Obi, who is the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, would lose in the February 2023 presidential election.
Reacting, ABure told Vanguard that Soludo’s comment was a distract which Anambra citizens should discard.
He said, “The governor of Anambra State, you could see that his comment was borne out of selfishness. His comment was borne out of self-centeredness; it was borne out of desperation.
“It was borne out of envy and jealousy. I mean for somebody who was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who should know the importance of investment which has been acclaimed by other governors to be one of the best that he has done in Anambra State; I mean for such a man to demean such an investment, will tell you that he is acting from a selfish point of view.
“But Soludo does not control the majority of the people of Anambra. He does not have control over what plays out in Anambra State. I want to also say clearly that even Soludo rose on the legacies of Peter Obi.
“He came to power through the platform of APGA and Peter Obi built the party, consolidated it, worked for the people of Anambra, which gave confidence to the people to continually vote for APGA.
“And, therefore, one can say clearly, without any fear of contradiction, that Soludo is riding on the legacies of Peter Obi because, if not that Peter Obi built APGA with his performance, by instilling confidence in the people to have confidence in the party, Soludo would not have had the platform to become governor.
“Therefore, I see Soludo’s comments as a distraction, and I urge the people of Anambra to treat it with a pinch of salt, discountenance it, disregard it. By the time we take our campaigns to Anambra, we will test and see who is popular in Anambra.
“Like Sonny Okoson sang, we will know who owns the land. We will know who owns the land by the time we take our campaigns to Awka, to Onitsha, to Nnewi, we will know who owns the land and, by the grace of God, next year, we will see who will control and win Anambra State.
“The opinion of Soludo is a minority opinion and should be treated with a pinch of salt. It’s very clear that he’s not speaking the mind of Anambra.
“It is a minority and myopic point of view, and the people of Anambra, even without consulting them, I can say it clearly that it is not a popular opinion.
“Because of his comment, Anambra will be the state that we will take our campaigns to very soon so that we can test our popularity and test to see who owns the land. My candid advice to him is that he should tone down his comments because he would be destroying his future, destroying himself if he continues along these lines.
“The political oligarchy in Nigeria, the political class has been using ethnicity and religion to create a divide for them to remain in office and that is coming to an end in 2023.
“These are the issues we have canvassed, that the 2023 elections are not about where you are from, it is about your character, it is about your pedigree, it’s about your competence, it’s about your age; all of these will play a role in who will emerge as President next year.”
