Why Obi Can't Win Presidency - Soludo

 

The Governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo has said Peter Obi, the presidential candidate candidate of Labour Party will not win the  2023 presidential election.

 

Soludo said this in an article on Monday, titled, ‘History Beckons and I Will Not Be Silent (Part 1).’

 

According to Soludo, he had asked Obi to contest under the  All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), but he refused.

 

Recall that Soludo had last Thursday during an interview on Channels TV ‘Politics Today’ said the investments in Anambra State credited to Obi, an ex-Anambra State governor, were worth ‘’next to nothing.’’

 

The former Central Bank of Nigeria governor’s criticism of his predecessor in Anambra State triggered a series of backlashes from Obi’s supporters, particularly on social media.

 

Obi ruled Anambra State between 2006 and 2014 on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance before he defected to the Peoples Democratic Party, and later the Labour Party.

 

Soludo alleged that some individuals, who were angered by his comments, had launched attacks on him and his family.

 

He claimed there were suggestions that the Saturday attack in which five security personnel died in his community, Isuofia, in the Aguata Local Government Area of the state, were carried out by those provoked by his comment on the LP candidate.

 

While describing the attacks on him as an exhibition of desperation, intolerance, he noted that the attempt to bully everyone who expresses the slightest of dissent was reprehensible.

 

Soludo further cited the attack on the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma, by Obi’s supporters commonly known as ‘Obidients.’

 

He described as tyranny the attempt to muscle out those who were not in support of Obi’s presidential ambition, stressing that this attitude might endanger the future political and economic interests of the Igbos, if not checked.

 

While acknowledging the anger of some youths in urban cities and the Diaspora over the trajectory of the country or with the candidates of the major parties, the governor lectured his adversaries on the tenets of democracy, stating that the minority would have their say, but the majority their way.

 

According to him, translating anger and social media agitation into political outcomes requires humongous work.

 

Weighing the LP standard bearer’s chances in the forthcoming poll, the governor said, “Let’s be clear: Peter Obi knows that he can’t and won’t win. He knows the game he is playing, and we know too; and he knows that we know.

Stating that Obi might not come third in the race, Soludo contended that the LP lacked the structure to win the presidential election in 2023.

 

He added, “So, I already told him my opinion. As my brother, I wish him well and even pray for him. Indeed, there is no credible pathway for him near the first two positions, and if care is not taken, he won’t even near the third position.

The governor conceded that the LP candidate would get some votes in his home state of Anambra, but noted that this would not take him anywhere.

 

“Of course, Peter Obi will get some votes, and may probably win in Anambra State— as “home boy”. But Anambra is not Nigeria. If he likes, I can even campaign for him but that won’t change much. From internal state-by-state polling available to me, he was on course to get 25 per cent in five states as of August this year. The latest polling shows that it is down to four states, and declining,’’ he submitted.

 

Dismissing claims that he was envious of his predecessor, Soludo said he and Obi had been friends for a long time, adding that he vowed never to leave APGA for another party.

 

The governor added, ‘’The same Peter Obi was one of those who told Ndigbo that APGA was the vehicle through which Igbos would organise to engage the rest of Nigeria politically. He was said to have sworn to Ojukwu and publicly that he would quit politics the day he leaves APGA. The rest is history. When he was the vice-presidential candidate under PDP in 2019, the emotive train then dubbed the ticket “the Igbo project”. As then chairman of planning and strategy committee of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, I cautioned for a more pragmatic approach but the emotive blaze of the time held sway. We were vindicated afterwards.

The governor noted the failure of the LP to field candidates for the two chambers of the National Assembly in Lagos, adding sarcastically that he would have given Obi money if he were the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, for making his victory easier.

 

He stated, ‘’Not even in Lagos State (supposed headquarters of urban youths) where the Labour Party could not find candidates to contest for House of Reps or Senate.

  

Soludo urged South-East leaders to strategise and bargain with the two candidates likely to win the 2023 general elections to bring an end to the problem facing the South-East region.

 

The Economics professor argued that the bargaining was necessary to bring lasting peace to the region as well as secure the release of the detained Indigenous People of Biafra leader, Nnamdi Kanu; South East economic transformation and restructuring, among others.

 

He noted, ‘’For starters, Ohanaeze should study the report of my committee (planning and strategy) in 2019. It may still be relevant today. Second, Ndigbo should seriously study the MoU signed at the Yar’Adua Centre in 2010. The leader of the Igbo Political Association, Chief Simon Okeke, and our members are still there.

Soludo wished Obi goodluck, but cautioned against social media mob action, noting that ‘’a mob action often reflects the character of its leader.’’

‘’No one has a monopoly on social media violence, and no one should play God. Life won’t end by February/March 2023,’’ he concluded.