From Cyril Mbah, Abuja.
The National Chairman of the Igbo Agenda Dialogue, (IAD), Chief Chekwas Okorie, (Ojeozi Ndigbo), has condemned what he described as the vicious and vile vendetta of the Anambra State Governor, Prof.
Charles Chukwuma Soludo, against former Governor of Anambra State and presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress, (NDC), for the 2027 election, Mr. Peter Obi.
Chief Okorie said he has watched with disgust and utter disappointment how Soludo has continued his vituperations against Obi, despite Obi’s consistent display of courtesies and respect to Soludo at every given opportunity.
According to the IAD Chairman, Prof. Soludo has been hiding under the cover of supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to vent his personal animosity against Mr. Peter Obi, and his attacks have no altruistic motive.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Chief Okorie traced the root of the vendetta to three political episodes, stating that the first “offense” dates back to October 14, 2009, when Soludo emerged as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP,) for the first off-season gubernatorial election in Anambra, which was Obi’s second term election, and Obi won resoundingly while beating Soludo to a distant third position.
The second “offense,” according to Okorie, occurred in 2013 when Soludo joined the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA), and declared interest in the governorship, but was disqualified in August that year by the Chief Victor Umeh-led leadership from participating in the primary, an action Soludo till date believes Peter Obi may have influenced, which he described as the greatest humiliation of his life.
The third “offense” was in the build-up to the 2023 general elections after Soludo won the November 2021 governorship election and was sworn in on March 17, 2022, when he allegedly conspired with then APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Oye, to ensure the defeat of Victor Umeh at the party’s Anambra Central senatorial primary.
Okorie explained that Umeh promptly switched to the Labour Party, LP, where he rode on the back of Peter Obi, the LP presidential candidate, to win the Anambra Central senatorial election, an outcome which Soludo holds against Obi as his third offense and reason he swore to bring Obi down by any means.
He recalled that Soludo began his attacks on Obi in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election through his unprovoked and infamous article titled “HISTORY BECKONS AND I WILL NOT REMAIN SILENT,” insisting there has never been any altruistic motive behind Soludo’s public posturing of support for President Tinubu for 2027.
Chief Okorie declared that the time has come for Soludo to stop the attacks, describing Peter Obi as unarguably the most outstanding and most popular presidential candidate on the ballot today, and saying the Obi/Kwankwaso presidential ticket is the most formidable combination since the Shagari/Ekwueme ticket in the Second Republic.
The Ojeozi Ndigbo said the possibility of an Obi/Kwankwaso presidency holds the promise of ushering in much desired national unity and reconciliation which are sine qua non for peaceful coexistence, security, development and patriotism, noting that the National Democratic Congress, (NDC), founded by Senator Seriake Dickson from Bayelsa, is fortuitously the platform for what is to come.
According to him, the NDC, a coinage from the erstwhile Niger Delta Congress and the first contribution by the South-South zone of a registered political party since independence, has its mass followership today not by accident but as an outcome of genuine engagement of youths by Obi and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso over the years.
The IAD National Chairman advised that as a professor of development economics, former CBN Governor and sitting Governor, Soludo has enough challenges in Anambra to keep him busy, and should be mindful of the verdict of history and the Igbo god of retributive justice, Amadioha, noting that families in Igbo land still suffer stigma from abominations of forebears.
He concluded with a direct appeal: “Prof. Chukwuma Soludo leave Mr. Peter Obi alone. A word is enough for the wise.”
