By Jude Atupulazi
A vital part of journalism is the ability to be in places where information can be gleaned. There is no restriction. It can be among the highly placed or the lowly placed. Each has its own rewards. I have been using this knowledge to mix with different people and get what I want. I would board a public transport and introduce a topic and sit back to hear how the people feel about it. I would be at a market and strike up a conversation with the traders around to feel their pulse on any trending matter. I would also enter a restaurant and do same. It helps me and other journalists to get information that we use to do our stories or add flavour to them.
You can all agree with me that we are in a period of politicking in which many people react in several different ways to issues. And in Anambra State of today one of the issues on the lips of most people is the spat between the Governor of the state, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; and the Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Mr Peter Obi. The spat between them has generated a lot of bad blood among supporters of both men. But what is clear is that most Nigerians see Soludo as the aggressor and unnecessarily so. One only has to take a peep on the social media to have an idea of what I’m saying, or to mix with crowds to feel it firsthand.
And so, not long ago, I was at a restaurant to grab a meal when I looked around and saw some gentlemen that had come for the same business. I happened to know one of them who is a big time employer of labour. After greetings, it was even he who fired the first salvo and asked me, ”Jude, why are you journalists not calling Soludo to order?”
It was a cue that others in the restaurant immediately took to join the conversation. What came out was interesting. As they say, the short and long of the story is that they not only passed a guilty verdict on Soludo, but said that since Soludo wanted to kill APGA, they would help him to do that by voting against all APGA Candidates in next year’s elections. That sounded rather extreme as APGA has many good Candidates. But the people were simply conveying their unhappiness with the way Soludo has been going about things, especially in antagonizing Peter Obi who is generally seen as the best Candidate for the presidency in next year’s Presidential Election.
One may be tempted to dismiss their stance as nothing but when it is remembered that in the 2023 General Elections the ”Top to Bottom” syndrome was reintroduced in Nigeria’s politics. This is about people voting for all those in the ticket of a political party they prefer, regardless of their background and suitability.
We last saw this in the Second Republic when the people of the South East voted massively for most Candidates of then Nigerian People’s Party, NPP, which had the late Nigeria’s political icon, Nnamdi Azikiwe, as its Presidential Standard Bearer. It was anathema at the time to go against Zik, no matter one’s clout. The late Biafra leader, Chuwkuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, found this out when he was beaten by a rookie, Dr Edwin Onwudiwe, of NPP. Ojukwu’s sin was joining the ruling NPN, the central government that was seen as anti-Igbo. Thus, Ojukwu, who was not long before then given a hero’s welcome after his return from a 12-year exile in Ivory Coast, and following his pardon by the NPN federal government, became a villain over night for ”daring” to go against the great Zik of Africa. He lost to the underdog, Onwudiwe.
In fact, the passion people had for NPP then was such that a dead candidate was said to have won election in one constituency. While I can’t say how true this was, one thing I can say for sure that is that, given how people felt about NPP, a goat dressed in human clothes might have won in some places.
Move up to now and you feel the same passion is rearing its head again. While the Nigerian people are generally disenchanted with the government of their President, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the Igbo people in particular, are more disenchanted. This is no thanks to their belief that Tinubu’s government is anti-Igbo. Thus, anyone supporting his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, is seen as public enemy number one.
But what has even angered Nigerians more is the way Soludo, a supposed brother to Obi, is attacking Obi and doing everything to bring him down. To them, this is the unkindest cut of all. But while the rest of Nigerians can’t do anything to hurt Soludo, those in his state of Anambra know they can. This is why there has been this growing resolve to deal with him by voting Obi’s party’s Candidates all the way, much as it was done in 2023. But this time, the anger is more. They now want to ”help Soludo kill APGA”.
They believe that Soludo’s support for Tinubu and open dalliance with APC are already signs that he wants to kill APGA and it is even believed that he will officially dump APGA for APC very soon before he leaves office. Any doubts about this were not helped by Soludo’s recent inclusion in the Presidential Campaign Council of APC recently.
It is known that a majority of APGA members, except a privileged few, are not happy with Soludo’s attacks on Obi and his flirtations with APC.
Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo is a brilliant economist, but as a politician, his tongue is becoming APGA’s greatest liability. With the 2027 General Elections just three months away, the danger facing every APGA Candidate for Senate, House of Representatives and State Assembly in Anambra State is no longer the opposition parties, but their own National Leader.
Soludo’s recent utterances are seemingly putting APGA Candidates in an impossible position on the ballot and we can look at it viz:
The Tinubu Adoption Confusion
Soludo single-handedly declared that APGA had adopted Bola Tinubu of the APC as its Presidential Candidate. He told Anambra people: ‘On January 16, 2027, when you get your ballot paper, cast your vote for Tinubu for President, then APGA for Senate…’
This looks like a political suicide for APGA Candidates, for how do you go to a village in Anambra South and ask a man whose house is flooded by bad economy, whose son is unemployed because of lack of jobs and who is paying N1,500 for fuel, to vote Tinubu for President and APGA for Senate? You are asking him to endorse the very hardship APGA claims it will protect him from.
APGA built its identity as “Nke Anyi Bu Nke Anyi” – our own is our own. Now Soludo has turned it into an appendage of APC. The National Working Committee may hail his appointment as Tinubu’s Campaign Coordinator in Anambra, but on the ground, APGA Candidates are now forced to defend APC’s record instead of selling APGA’s manifesto. Their opponents are already branding them: “APGA-APC, Tier 2”.
The Peter Obi War
Worse is Soludo’s unending war with Peter Obi. Last week, the Anambra State Government’s official handle posted: “Peter Obi destroyed APGA, resist him… A betrayal alert for Ndi APGA. Since 2014, Obi has had one mission: to destroy the party that made him.”
This is unguarded and historically careless. Every Anambra voter knows Obi governed for eight years under APGA and gave the party national relevance. Whether you love or hate Obi, he still commands the loyalty of millions of Anambra youth, traders, and church groups – the exact voting bloc APGA needs to win legislative seats.
By declaring Obi an enemy to be resisted, Soludo has told Obidients (who cut across parties) that APGA is their enemy. How will an APGA House of Assembly Candidate in Awka South, where Labour won over 80% in 2023, survive this? Soludo is Governor, he has security and incumbency. His candidates do not.
The Politics of Insult
This is not new. At the inauguration of APGA’s Election Council, Soludo called Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, a respected businessman, a “tipper driver” and mocked Senator Uche Ekwunife’s academic records. The APC Campaign Council rightly called it reckless and unguarded. This time he has also trolled a respected industrialist and employer of labour, Dr Ebuka Onunkwo, reportedly describing him as an illiterate who should go and face his factory work. Onunkwo, who was in APGA before now, is today gunning for the Senate for Anambra South on NDC’s platform.
Anambra people hate arrogance. They respect wealth creators, even tipper drivers. When a professor-governor mocks hustlers, he alienates the market women, the transporters, the artisans – the very base of APGA.
Soludo speaks like a lecturer correcting students, not a leader persuading voters. Many believe he talks down on people, personalizes and attacks. An Igbo proverb says a man who insults others publicly invites curses on his household. This time, it is not Soludo’s immediate family but his party, APGA, which could face a backlash.
The Consequence For 2027
The danger is clear: APGA is going into 2027 with a divided message. The party’s slogan is “Be your brother’s keeper”, but its leader is seen as fighting his brothers. Its Candidates want to campaign on Anambra’s local issues, but their leader forces them to carry Tinubu on their heads.
If APGA loses legislative seats in January, it will not be because opponents were necessarily stronger. It will be because Soludo’s mouth made their work impossible. A Governor’s loose tongue can be forgiven by power. A Candidate’s association with that loose tongue cannot be forgiven at the polling booth. Here lies a looming danger.
APGA elders must call Soludo to order. Let APGA be APGA. Let Tinubu campaign for Tinubu. Otherwise, APGA Candidates are being led to the abattoir by their own shepherd. They should act now or be ready to say goodnight in the afternoon of their political life.
