APGA was reacting on Monday on rumours that the outgoing governor and the incoming one are set to defect to Nigeria’s ruling party as part of an agreed plan before the governorship election that Soludo won last month.
The denial of the alleged planned defection was given by the National Co-ordinator of APGA Media Warriors Forum, Chinedu Obigwe. Speaking at a press briefing in Awka, the Anambra State capital, Obigwe said the claim in some quarters was “a lie from the pit of hell.”
“It’s important to say it boldly that the battle Governor Obiano fought on November 6th was a battle for the survival of APGA as the only Igbo party in Nigeria. He fought that battle with all his heart and God gave him victory.
“There was never a time Governor Obiano promised anybody that if Soludo wins the election, both of them will join APC.
“Governor Obiano nurtured a good relationship with President Buhari administration for the betterment of Ndi Anambra. The President respects the fact that Obiano is the leader of APGA and accords him that respect.
“President Buhari did not lobby him to join APC because he knows very well that Governor Obiano will not accept to abandon APGA, a party that has Igbo interest at heart and defect to APC.”
Despite the denial, a person close to Soludo described the situation in Anambra now as “a complex thing”.
“For me generally, I don’t see Soludo defecting to APC because of the popularity he enjoys in the southeast. He holds a lot of popularity,” he said by phone from Awka on Monday.
Despite this, he acknowledged that the dynamics will be determined by what is at stake right now.
“It depends on what may have been promised. If Soludo has an eye on the presidency, they can compromise anything for their ambition. Presidency for 2023 is coming up for the southeast,” he said. but that will be too premature for him as a governor.
Obigwe added, “The only thing Governor Obiano did that worked in favour of APGA in the November 6th governorship election is that he extracted a free and fair election commitment from President Buhari.
“The President promised him that the election would be free and fair without interference from the Presidency.
President Buhari fulfilled the promise and the resultant effect is that the November 6th governorship election is now being applauded by Nigerians and international communities as the most free and fair election conducted by INEC in recent times.”
“It’s childish propaganda for anybody to say that Governor Obiano promised to join APC with Soludo,” Obigwe stated.
Rumours of the planned defection of the two men began shortly immediately after the governorship election. Rmuours had it that defection to the APC was part of the conditions given to the outgoing and incoming governors by higher authorities for peace to prevail in the state to guarantee a successful poll.
Before the election, Anambra had become a theatre of war, with the rampant killing of security operatives and prominent politicians. Although many people blamed the Indigenous People of Biafra for the attacks, the group claimed the attacks were actually being carried out by groups that were out to tarnish its image.
Following the spate of killings, the federal government had, through the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had threatened to declare a state of emergency on the state.
Speaking further, the person familiar with the development noted that defection will be an indication of interest in the presidency, but noted that that doesn’t give it to him, describing it that as “over-ambition for him, if you ask me”.
“Let him be sworn in, run one year before the presidency be out then. Even then, he wouldn’t have anything to show for going from the presidency. He wouldn’t have done any wonderful thing. Everything would have started, inconclusive, an ambition, no followership,” he said.
There has been a lot of tension between APGA and Andy Ubah, the candidate of the APC in the just-concluded election. Ubah, who came third in the poll, has vowed to challenge Soludo’s victory in court.
“What’s the fight against Andy Ubah, if you are going there thereafter?” asks the person.
