Today in Awka at the government house, the former central bank of Nigeria governor, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo formally endorsed the second term bid of the governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano. The endorsement came at an event to mark Willie Obiano’s 3rd year in Office where Prof. Soludo gave the keynote lecture.
Prof. Soludo reeled out a number of indicators and factors to support his claim that Anambra has made remarkable progress in Obiano’s first three years compared to the first three years of any of his predecessors. According to Prof. Soludo, “Anambra is fourth largest economy in Nigeria in this order; Lagos, Abuja, Rivers, Anambra”.
Soludo continued that, “Nigeria’s annual budget if divided among its population leaves each Nigerian with just N34,000 per capita income. Private sector must play a role to shore up our earning. Anambra government must insist on FG finishing the second Niger bridge and all federal highways in the state Come rain come shine, Obiano must JumpStart the Anambra cargo airport project, Anambra must be assessible through air, land and sea to truly attain the status of international city. Its false argument to say that a state must be connected to national grid through party to benefit. Show me any state that has gotten more than its worth in allocation or other because it is same party as federal?”
Soludo also responded to the call for him to join the race. He added, “many people are calling me to come and contest, but the point is, if Anambra has not broken, why mend it? This is a time of crises, and you don’t change a general in the middle of a war. Anambra, Obiano is your general. All of you planning to spend billions to contest governorship, please bring your money and come and open factories and industries here to support the state economy. There will only be vacancy in Anambra government house in the next four years.”
It is not certain if Soludo will play an active role in Obiano’s campaign.
