ObunikeI recently read an exchange on social media between a supporter of the APGA-led Anambra State Government and supporters of the NDC presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi. I was shocked and disgusted by the deeply personal attacks being rained upon individuals, including people who will not even be on the ballot in the 2027 elections. The entire exchange was nauseating.
For the record, the Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, and the NDC presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, are seasoned politicians engaged in a contest of wits, strategy, power and influence. They understand the political game they are playing, and their rivalry has a long history.
HOW THEIR POLITICAL PATHS CROSSED
Their paths crossed forcefully in 2009 when Professor Soludo secured the PDP governorship ticket to challenge Peter Obi’s re-election bid in the 2010 Anambra State governorship election. From that moment, both men became locked in opposing political trenches.
In what was widely considered a masterstroke—and one that helped APGA retain control of Anambra State—the Peter Obi-led APGA government reportedly convinced the Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government that it was in the PDP’s strategic interest to work against its own candidate, Professor Soludo, and support Peter Obi.
The argument was that such an arrangement would prevent the election from being won by the Action Congress candidate, Dr Chris Ngige, who had a cult-like following in Anambra State at the time. Ngige was unchallenged within the Action Congress and was unanimously returned as its candidate.
That election also featured other formidable candidates.
Dr Uche Ekwunife, who represented the Anaocha/Dunukofia/Njikoka Federal Constituency, had been a member of the PDP and aspired to contest the governorship election on its platform. She later moved to the Progressive Peoples Alliance following what she described as the shoddy manner in which the PDP conducted its primary-election process.
Chief Ralph Nwosu was the candidate of the African Democratic Congress. He was a foundation member of APGA and had wanted to become the party’s governorship candidate in 2003 before Peter Obi emerged as its flagbearer. He subsequently left APGA and joined the ADC, on whose platform he contested the 2010 election.
Professor Soludo, who was widely believed to be the preferred candidate of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was reportedly disappointed that when President Yar’Adua became seriously ill and Goodluck Jonathan took charge of the Federal Government, the political establishment appeared to favour the APGA candidate rather than the PDP’s own candidate.
After the election, Soludo left the PDP and joined APGA, positioning himself to succeed Peter Obi at the end of Obi’s second term.
However, in another move that many regarded as politically strategic and partly intended to block Soludo, Peter Obi supported the zoning of the APGA governorship ticket to Anambra North. This technically excluded several of his most prominent former opponents—including Dr Chris Ngige, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Dr Uche Ekwunife and Chief Ralph Nwosu—because none of them came from Anambra North.
The decision was interpreted by some as an attempt to retire or neutralise the politicians who had challenged Obi’s re-election. Indeed, Professor Soludo’s attempt to contest the 2013 governorship election was stopped when APGA disqualified him during its screening exercise. His supporters alleged that Peter Obi did not want him on the ballot.
Following the emergence of Governor Willie Obiano and the eventual breakdown of the relationship between Obiano and his political godfather, Peter Obi, Soludo swiftly moved closer to the Obiano-led APGA administration. He provided strategic support against what was perceived as Peter Obi’s political onslaught against the government.
Soludo was eventually rewarded with APGA’s governorship ticket, and, as they say, the rest is history.
THE CURRENT POLITICAL CALCULATIONS
Peter Obi is now the presidential candidate of the NDC. It is believed in some political circles that Professor Soludo does not expect Obi to win the 2027 presidential election and is using the present political situation to promote his own credentials as a possible South-East vice-presidential candidate in 2031.
Whether or not this interpretation is correct, it remains part of the political speculation surrounding the present conflict.
When Governor Soludo allowed Peter Obi to use the Anambra State Government House to announce his intention to seek the PDP presidential ticket in 2022, many believed that the two men had finally reconciled after years of political rivalry.
However, their relationship deteriorated after Obi left the PDP ahead of the 2023 election. It now appears to be at its lowest point, particularly following Soludo’s re-election for a second term in an election in which he faced no serious political threat.
My suspicion is that Soludo’s present strategy—or, more accurately, his tactics for strengthening his position ahead of 2031—is to keep Peter Obi and his NDC supporters occupied in the muddy waters of Anambra politics. The more Obi’s supporters respond to every provocation, the more they risk becoming distracted from the wider national contest.
Such responses give Soludo the political relevance and bargaining power he needs for any future ambition. They also risk persuading APGA members and sympathisers that working against the NDC is necessary for APGA’s continued survival.
Alignment with the Federal Government has long been regarded as one of the major factors that sustained APGA in Anambra State. Indeed, it was considered a smart political script developed during Peter Obi’s tenure as the APGA governor of the state.
This strategy is, therefore, not new. The only difference is that it is now allegedly being deployed against Peter Obi himself.
A CALL FOR RESTRAINT
I make this public appeal to everyone genuinely supporting the NDC and its presidential candidate: desist immediately from escalating this disagreement or responding to it with personal insults.
All these energies should be channelled towards building national momentum for the NDC presidential candidate. Anambra voters—and, indeed, South-East voters—are not fools. Professor Soludo cannot simply convince them to vote against the NDC. However, the NDC and its supporters could inflict that harm upon themselves through needless provocations, personal attacks and political recklessness.
The NDC has no serious political challenge in the South-East at present. It must therefore avoid manufacturing one for itself.
I also wonder what becomes of the other members of a family that has been publicly rubbished merely because one person—who was most probably acting entirely on his own—expressed strong views about someone occupying public office. Why should an entire family be humiliated because of the political opinion of one of its members?
It is so sad.
I understand that this is a political season. It is also a period in which people who thrive on political sycophancy attempt to earn a living—or at least attract the attention that sustains their daily relevance.
Nevertheless, Peter Obi and Chukwuma Soludo are politicians playing their respective games. Their supporters must not reduce legitimate political disagreements to vicious attacks against parents, spouses, children and family histories.
The NDC presidential candidate should completely ignore these distractions and concentrate on building national momentum. Other presidential candidates are already advancing policy proposals and shaping the national debate.
The ADC candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has introduced a serious policy discussion through his public pledge to restore disposable income to Nigerians by supporting local refineries, reducing the cost of fuel and putting more money back into the hands of citizens.
He has taken the debate further by unveiling a twelve-point agenda, which includes ensuring that all the ports in the old Eastern Region become fully and optimally operational. This is crucial to decongesting Lagos, stimulating economic activity across the South-East and reopening commercial corridors connecting the region to the North through Makurdi and Lokoja.
These are the kinds of proposals Nigerians should be debating.
It is utterly irresponsible that, at such a critical point in our national life, our political engagement should revolve around whose grandfather was poor, whose father served another person, whose parents were richer or poorer, or the repulsive allegation that someone’s mother cheated on her husband and gave birth to an irresponsible child.
This is politics at its lowest and most reprehensible level.
Professor Soludo has absolutely nothing to lose in this despicable fight. Those seeking national office have everything to lose if they allow themselves to become trapped in it.
It stinks to high heaven that, instead of debating the economy, insecurity, unemployment, infrastructure, energy, education and the future of our children, we are discussing family wealth, parentage and allegations of marital infidelity.
We deserve better.
Let Soludo and Obi play their politics. Their supporters must not destroy our collective dignity in the process.
Obunike Ohaegbu
NDC House of Representatives Aspirant
Writes from Ukpor, Anambra State
