The Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation says a “belaboured treatise of an article” written by Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo on one of his predecessors, Peter Obi, is full of fallacies and personal vendetta.
Soludo had in a lengthy opinion piece on Monday tackled the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who governed Anambra between 2006 to 2014.
Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said Obi knows he cannot win the 2023 presidential election and is only playing a game.
However, on Tuesday, the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation, in a statement by its spokesperson, Ndi Kato, said the Labour Party has bigger issue to focus on.
See the full statement issued by the LP’s spokesman below:
THE PEOPLE ARE OUR PRIORITY.
(Response to an article by Prof Chukwuma Soludo, by Ndi Kato, Spokesperson of The Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation)
We read with amusement and dismay, a very lengthy and belaboured treatise of an article, written by Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Governor of Anambra State, focused on our Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Peter Obi.
It seems obvious that Professor Soludo is itching for the limelight, in this election season, perhaps fired up by possible understanding or alliance with our struggling political opponents.
While we note the glaring fallacies, misrepresentations, personal insinuations and signs of personal vendetta in that long writeup, neither His Excellency Peter Obi, The Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation, nor the Labour Party, for that matter, has any interest in an extended engagement with Prof Soludo this critical time when there is a bigger fish to fry.
His Excellency Peter Obi has his work well cut out for him, this campaign season.
Primarily, he is accelerating his reach-out and influence to all Nigerians, rural and urban, in all areas, regions and states; and firmly engaging them, on his critical and visionary plans to take the country from consumption to production.
In doing this, Mr. Peter Obi is firmly placing the Youths, intensive Agricultural revolution, and revamping of critical areas of the economy as part of the focal points in the drive to turn around our fortunes and take back our country.
We, the Youths, spreading across partisan political lines, have found reason to place the highest level of trust and confidence in HE Peter Obi, and we are committed to continuing to a partnership with him, transparently, vigorously and creatively, to bring to fruition, the vital changes urgently required in this our country, of so much potential.
We strongly believe that A New Nigeria is possible… and together with Peter Obi, we are working to make this a reality.
This is our focus; this is our occupation.. and we shall not be distracted!
Obi stated this at the 2022 Lagos Business School (LBS) Alumni Conference in Lagos.
The Anambra governor between 2006 and 2014 was reacting to Soludo’s comments that the investment he (Obi) left in government is worth close to nothing.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi on Tuesday, said he did his little as governor of Anambra State and urged the incumbent governor, Chukwuma Soludo to do his best in the state as an economics professor,
Reacting on Tuesday in Lagos, Obi described Soludo as his brother.
“He (Soludo) remains my brother, we are very close. I remain prayerful for him. For other things which I didn’t succeed, God has given him opportunity to do it and succeed.
“So, if there is anything pending, governance doesn’t finish, people are still in government in America, so you stop where you will stop, other people will continue from there,” Obi said.
“He is the governor of the state; he is my senior brother, he is even more intelligent than me because he is a professor, I am a trader, so he knows more and will be able to do things better than I am doing it.
“I have done my little own as a trader, now the professor is there he will do his own as a professor, the schools I didn’t roof he will roof them, that’s how government goes.”
The former governor said he left the office with the savings of 75 Billion Naira, adding that his administration saved 50 million dollars each in Access, Diamond and Fidelity banks with an interest rate of 6.5%.
He further clarifies, “The one they said is worthless, we invested 3.5 billion naira in International Breweries…that facility is there employing directly and indirectly over 10,000 Anambarians. The shares was at a time being sold at N50, today the shares is about N5 or so.
“When you spread your investment some will go up some will come down but overall the company is still there, the company is still doing well, it is still part of the global chain and everything. I needed to explain it not because I am defending comments by my brother,” the LP candidate said.
He said he left the office without owing any contractor, supplier who had executed their job, citing the examples of Innoson Motors and Zinos Computers.
