11th March, 2023
By Chimezie Anaso
Governor Chukwuma Soludo has accused Labour Party’s presidential candidate of trying to lay landmines for him with his call that the people of Anambra should vote members of his party in the 18 March state house of assembly election.
Soludo, spoke through Mr Christian Aburime, his Press Secretary, while urging the people of Anambra to ignore the call by Obi to vote for Labour Party candidates in the House of Assembly election.
The Governor said Anambra residents of the state should instead vote for the candidates of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA candidates for the 30 seats in the House of Assembly.
Obi, also a former Anambra Governor, had during his campaign called on candidates of the Labour party to win and support the APGA-led government.
Obi who met with Labour Party House of Assembly candidates in Anambra on Friday night, called on them to go all out and campaign to win on March 18.
He said they should win and support the APGA-led government to deliver dividends of democracy to the people.
He used the opportunity to thank the people of Anambra for their massive support for Labour Party to win two Senatorial and five House of Representatives seat on Feb. 25.
Obi urged electorate across the country and in Anambra to go about their campaigns peacefully as election was not war.
According to him, “I have told my people to go and campaign and win election.
“Their job as a legislator is to work with the governor and ensure he provides the dividends of democracy to our people. Help him to make good laws on education, health and other sectors.
“Soludo remains our governor, our job is to support and pray for him,” he said.
“I have told our candidates to go about their campaigns in a peaceful, quiet and organised manner,” he said.
He said he had no issues with Gov. Soludo as they remained brothers, best of friends with different political views.
“He is the governor of my state and I have utmost respect for him, I am contesting for the president of Nigeria and to the best of my knowledge he is not a contestant,” he said.
But Soludo said the call by Obi for Anambra electorate to vote Labour Party was deceptive and a strategy of laying landmines for him.
“That call is inappropriate and meant to deceive Anambra people. Obi can not be talking about development in Anambra and also be talking about asking Anambra people to elect lawmakers from an opposition party to work with Soludo.
“He worked with a legislature that was dominated by lawmakers from the PDP and he knows that it was not easy for him.
“He even suffered impeachment because of that, so Anambra people should go all out on March 18 and vote for APGA, if they want the developmental strides of Mr Governor to continue,” he said.
Aburime said instead of canvassing votes for Labour Party, Peter Obi should throw his weight behind the ruling APGA as payback for the massive support the people of Anambra gave him on Feb. 25.
He urged Anambra not to relent in retaining APGA in the State Assembly and avoid stalling the economic and security gains achieved by the Soludo administration so far.
According to him, Anambra people supported Obi and Soludo refused to interfere as the people trooped out to vote for Labour Party.
“We voted Labour Party in the presidential election, but for the House of Assembly election, we are voting for APGA, and we want Anambra people to know so.”
“APGA has come to stay in Anambra and not Labour Party,” he said.
(NAN)