In alleged effort to take over Anambra State, officials of All Progressives Congress, APC, are believed to be mounting enormous pressure on the governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo to dump his All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and contest the 2025 governorship election under APC.
But APGA has dismissed it with the wave of the hand, describing it as the wishful thinking by APC.
This came as the South East leaders of APC visited the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, soliciting his support to enable the party take over Anambra in 2025.
A chieftain of APC claimed in Awka on Friday that series of delegations have been meeting Governor Soludo to persuade him to defect to APC because it would be easier to use a sitting governor to go into the 2025 governorship battle.
He said: “APC is interested in taking Anambra State this time around. Big wigs in the party in the state and at the national are already talking with the governor to join us because politically, it will be easier and cheaper to invest in a sitting governor as our candidate in that election, than bringing a greenhorn into the race.
“We are hoping that our discussion with the governor will be fruitful. But you know that from now to November next year when the election will take place, is a long time. Even 24 hours is a long time in politics. But we are hopeful.”
He, however, said that the party has plan B, adding that if the governor doesn’t succumb to the pressure, the plan B will be activated.
He did not elaborate, even as he insisted that APC is very much interested in Anambra State.
Reacting to the alleged pressure on Soludo to defect to APC, the national publicity secretary of APGA, Mazi Ejimofor Opara said it was totally untrue.
“It is the figment of their own imagination. Soludo is not somebody you can be pressured to take decisions. So, anybody talking about the governor’s defection to APC is just concocting stories”, he said.
Only recently, a former national auditor of APC, Sir Paul Chukwuma said he decided to join the 2025 governorship race having failed to convince those in authority in Anambra State to join APC for the purpose of taking the state to the center.
“The state of Anambra today is worrisome and it needs to be rescued. I made effort to convince those in power now to join the ruling party at the centre, but they refused. Because they refused, I decided to present myself to the service of the people”, Chukwuma said.
Listing the advantages of being on the same page with the party at the center, Chukwuma said Imo and Ebonyi states are already enjoying those privileges.
He said: “Go and look at the two states in the South East that are being governed by APC; Ebonyi and Imo, and compare them with other states that are governed by other political parties, and you will see the difference.
“In Anambra, there are erosion sites everywhere and we cannot tackle them. We need federal government funds to be able to combat them. That is why I’m saying that the problem is not with those who are governors today, but the party they belong to.”
As the battle to take over Anambra continues, the leadership of APC in the South East has met the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe.
South East national vice chairman of the party, Ijeomah Arodiogbu, told Igwe Achebe that despite the seeming disapproval of the party by the Igbo, the surest way to link up with the centre and enjoy the dividends of democracy, is to support the APC, which he said, has tremendous respect for the traditional institution.
He said: “As we make consultation in Igbo land on how to make the APC an acceptable party in the South East, we must consult the likes of Igwe Achebe owing to the strategic importance of his throne and the good people of Onitsha.
“We have come to Onitsha to associate ourselves with one of the finest rulers in Igbo land, and given such pedigree as paraded by the Obi of Onitsha, we know that Igwe Achebe is a man of several exceptional qualities, which men like us would always love to associate with. I must say that I am indeed overwhelmed by the level of intelligence and background knowledge of the Obi of Onitsha on various topical issues of Nigeria, especially in the spheres of economy and security.
“Let me state that the APC under my watch will always respect and consider traditional rulers as important storehouses of wisdom, and would regularly seek such priceless counsel at all given times,” he said.
Responding, Achebe wished the party well in their consultations. Those in Arodiogbu’s delegation to Igwe Achebe include the APC Zonal Organizing Secretary, Dozie Ikedife, one time senator representing Anambra North, Emma Anosike, and the Vice Chairman, Anambra APC North, Emma Ekwuaju.
