By Ikechukwu Amaechi
In his November 14, 2022 political takedown of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Anambra State governor, wrote: “As history beckons, my conscience and sense of duty to my people dictate that I should never be silent. I will happily accept the judgment of history for standing by the truth!” That judgement of history came fast and furious on February 25, 2023. And guess what? It was harsh – portrayed Soludo not only as a conscienceless liar without any sense of duty to his people or even fidelity to altruism, but also consigned him to the dustbin of history.
*Obi and SoludoAll protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, what Soludo did with that statement on Peter Obi titled, “History Beckons And I Will Not Be Silent (Part 1)” was an attempted political assassination. It dripped of betrayal and blackmail. It was backroom politicking in its most unscrupulous and ruthless form. No doubt, the former Central Bank Governor did a yeoman’s work, as quislings always do. But in doing so, he staked his reputation on something not under his control. It has blown up in his face most spectacularly.
Soludo cheekily titled the
statement, “History Beckons And I Will
Not Be Silent (Part 1)”, which suggests that a Part 2 was in the offing.
That didn’t come because it was supposed to be a celebratory salvo, the “but I
told you epistle” against those who had the presence of mind to call him out on
his misadventure with the first statement.
And that was to come after his
prediction had come true. He actually set the tone in the first statement: “I
hope that after February 2023, Peter Obi will return to APGA (the party that
made him everything he is politically) as I offered him on March 8, 2022 and
begin the hard work, if he truly wants to be president of Nigeria.”
Soludo, the self-acclaimed
political wizard made some audacious claims after looking into his crystal
ball. He asserted that Obi’s foray into the presidential race was a political
blunder that will lead to humiliation and accused him of deceit. “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. The game he is playing is
the main reason he didn’t return to APGA. The brutal truth (and some will say, God
forbid) is that there are two persons/parties seriously contesting for
president: the rest is exciting drama,” Soludo wrote.
“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. Analysts tell him you don’t need
‘structure’ to win. Fantasy! Of course, LP won governorship elections in Ekiti
and Osun on social media and via phantom polls, while getting barely 2,000
votes on ground. Creating a credible third force for presidential election in
Nigeria requires a totally different strategy and extreme hard work,” the
former CBN boss ridiculed his predecessor whose only crime was summoning the
courage to dare.
“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 at August this year. The latest polling shows
that it is down to four states, and declining. Not even in Lagos State
(supposed headquarters of urban youths) where Labour Party could not find
candidates to contest for House of Reps or Senate.”
Going by the result of the presidential
election declared by the Professor Mahmoud Yakubu-led Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC, someone else other than Obi “won”. But in real
terms, the actual winner is Peter Obi who has emerged the most formidable
political force in this Fourth Republic. If anything, Soludo, though not on the
ballot, emerged a political nonentity barely one year after he took oath of
office as governor, when his glory was supposed to be at its peak.
Peter Obi polled 584,621 votes
out of a total 613,861 valid votes in Anambra. Obi’s closest rival, Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the PDP, scored 9,036 votes, while
Prof. Peter Umeadi, candidate of Soludo’s party, APGA, who is also a “home boy”
garnered 7,388 votes. Obi not only thrashed Soludo in his Aguata LGA, ward and
polling booth but also Government House in Awka where Obi garnered almost 100
per cent of the votes cast. So, Soludo should hide his face in shame
because Obi not only won in Anambra, the only state he grudgingly conceded to him,
he also won in 11 other states including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT,
Abuja.
Let me be clear. I rooted for
Soludo to become governor of Anambra State because I really thought a lot of
him before the November 6, 2021 governorship poll. On October 20, 2021, I wrote
an article titled: “Why Anambra Needs
Soludo”, and my conclusion was straightforward: “What Anambra needs is
transformational leadership. Soludo holds the aces …. Anambra needs someone who
is hungry to be remembered for his generosity and civilization after his tour
of duty at a time like this when Ndigbo are at the crossroads of national
politics.
That is the quality Soludo
brings on board.” Shortly after, a friend of mine from Anambra called to ask if
I really knew Soludo. I felt insulted. He apologised but still made his point.
“I am from Anambra. After reading your column this morning, I came to the
conclusion that you don’t know him. He is self-serving, arrogant and conceited.
He is not better than the much-vilified Uba brothers. If anything, he is worse.
Soludo is a man without character, mean-spirited and vindictive.”
Of course, I was scandalised and
vehemently disagreed with what I felt was an unfair characterisation but he
insisted that sooner than later, I will know better. When Soludo issued the
statement, my friend called to say: “But I told you.” I conceded. On Soludo, he
was right, I was wrong. What rankles most is the governor’s attempt to throw
the entire Igbo race under the bus for his own selfish political gain. If Soludo
was sincere and altruistic as he claimed, he would have supported the
presidential candidate of APGA since Obi rebuffed his entreaties to come back
to the party.
But he was simply beholden to
forces that have nothing but contempt for Nigerian masses, who told him he was
more deserving of the presidency when and if the “owners” of Nigeria decide it
is the turn of Ndigbo. So if the idea of a President Peter Obi becomes a
reality in 2023, then the idea of a President Chukwuma Soludo will forever
remain an illusion.
Therefore, Obi must be destroyed
by every means possible and Soludo was the hatchet man even when there was no
guarantee that his co-conspirators will keep their own part of the bargain even
if they had succeeded on February 25. Soludo’s intellectualism failed him on
the altar of his own greed. He couldn’t summon the courage to admit the
obvious, though he knew the truth: the Obidient Movement is not an Igbo
project. Majority of the youths who are the main drivers are not Igbo. They are
Nigerians from all walks of life who desire a new beginning for their
beleaguered country.
*Amaechi,
publisher of TheNiche, is a commentator on
public issues
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