By Jude Atupulazi
I am just about getting tired of writing about the many gaffes of our Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, especially as they concern his relationship with his predecessor, Mr Peter Obi. It is a well-known fact that Soludo always utilizes every opportunity to aim punches at Obi, often without provocation, a development that many in the state and country find appalling and unnecessary.
Just a day after the bazaar called by-elections in the state in which all the parties paid for votes, Soludo, at an event to celebrate the victory of his party after it outspent others to win, aimed another dig at Obi by trolling both the Labour Party and African Democratic Congress, ADC, the party believed to be the platform to host a coalition of forces ahead of the 2027 General Elections. Both parties are connected to Obi.
Soludo said both the LP and ADC were dead and non-existent in the state. Ordinarily, this would be overlooked as a usual political taunt. But when one realizes that Soludo only trolled the parties connected to Obi and left out the All Progressives Congress, APC, the main party that can remove him from office, using federal might, one immediately understands where Soludo was coming from.
He has never properly hidden his disdain for Obi’s presidential aspiration, even when, he, Soludo, is not aspiring to be president; at least for now. It started when he wrote his famous letter about Obi’s presidential aspiration in 2023, in which he told Obi that he would not win. This was despite that Soludo’s party, APGA, had a Presidential Candidate, Rtd Justice Peter Umeadi, whose chances of winning were zero from the first day. But Soludo left him and faced Obi who, as we know, later won but was denied his victory like they did to the late Moshood Abiola.
Since then, Soludo has never failed to miss any opportunity to aim digs at Obi, to the extent that many wondered if there was any private matter between them that others did not know. Even at Obi’s last birthday, Soludo did not congratulate him, while Obi congratulated Soludo when his own birthday came up about a week later.
Now, after his party won the by-elections, Soludo again chose to target Obi, leaving a party that came second, APC, which has the capacity to rig him out of office if the president decides to do so. But then, many are beginning to believe that Soludo may be carrying out an order given by Abuja which is for him to do everything to whittle down the popularity and chances of Obi ahead of the 2027 polls.
Recall that shortly before the by-elections Soludo had visited Tinubu in Aso Rock, with pictures revealing Soludo wearing a cap in support of Tinubu and dumping the usual one he wears in Anambra. That Aso Rock meeting was believed to be a placatory move by Soludo for the presidency not to tamper with the by-elections here. This is just a conjecture which however seems close to the truth, given what is playing out.
Soludo’s pugnacious stance against Obi is believed also to be because he nurses his own ambition of being picked as Vice Presidential Candidate after his second term, an ambition that will die a premature death if Obi manages to become the president.
As I wrote earlier, only Soludo knows the truth of this matter but then, it is unfortunate that in the entire Southeast, it is only in Anambra that a sitting governor is relentlessly fighting a former governor who did not even directly hand over to him.
It is a fact cast in iron that Obi is the darling of a vast majority of Nigerians and even if all the lies and efforts geared towards diminishing him have not worked, it still pains that the fiercest battle faced by Obi is from his own brother at home.
Soludo should know that this kind of game has been played before when some elements were used to achieve a goal after which they were consumed by those that used them.
One thing is clear: in 2027 95% of Anambra people will still vote for Obi; while at least 80% of Soludo’s party people will also vote for Obi. It happened before, it will happen again.
In Achebe’s ”Things Fall Apart”, the chief character, Okonkwo, was warned by his friend, Obierika, not to raise his hand against the boy (Ikemefuna) that called him father. Okonkwo did not heed this warning and went ahead to kill Ikemefuna, only to have a sad end.
Soludo, as the 2027 polls near, do not raise your hand against the man that calls you his elder brother. Need I say more?
