Anambra Assembly in Soludo’s pocket –Chinwuba, AA chairman

• Says, governor running one-man show in Govt House

From Obinna Odogwu, Awka

Chairman of the Action Alliance (AA) in Anambra State, Chief Zulyke Chinwuba, has rated the performance of the current members of the state House of Assembly very low, saying that they have made themselves stooges to Governor Chukwuma Soludo.

Chinwuba, who also lashed out at the National Assembly members from the state, went further to knock the governor, saying that he’s running the state like it’s his personal business.

The AA chairman spoke in Awka, the state capital.

With your state congress successfully concluded, how ready is your party for the 2027 general election?

To start with, we had a state congress today which witnessed a lot of people, a plethora of politicians attended and everything that happened today happened well and so well that everybody who came got interested in it and appreciated it. In fact, today it was a landmark occasion because at the onset it was like this congress wasn’t going to hold, but we thank God it later did and did in a very memorable way, positively, and there were positive impacts on the people who came. And those of us who participated in the whole thing are so happy, so glad that it did happen. To crown it all, while the congress was going on, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) attended, the National Electoral Board Committee came to conduct the election for us. And then at the end of the day we saw aspirants coming up, showing interest in contesting the election under the platform of Action Alliance. So it’s a tremendous improvement and achievement. My thinking is that we, the members of Action Alliance, use Action Alliance as an alternative, very credible, to unseat any political party in Nigeria and in Anambra State in particular come next season, because why I’m saying next season is, another season is beginning newly. And those of us who are buying forms today, eventually we’ll win; because we are assuring them of victory because we are many. We’ll just storm their various political units, constituencies, and make sure that we do a lot of campaigns to make them win, and win convincingly. And anybody who hears about their victory will want to join Action Alliance. I believe that with time, everybody in Anambra State will be singing Action Alliance instead of APGA. We will talk about Action Alliance (AA) from now on. So, my target is that Action Alliance will be the only credible alternative.

Anambra will be having only the national and state Assembly elections next year. Are you impressed with the performance of the legislators from the state in the last three years?

I am not, because a lot of things are allowed to go on. Very, very awful things are happening in the state, especially in the lawmaking body. Even in the execution. Because it seems that the governor is pocketing the legislators of Anambra State. I have not seen any opposition; because a lot of things are going wrong, which need the opposition to talk about; yet, they are not talking. So, I am thinking that when we produce our own candidates and they come out victorious during the elections, a lot of changes would have happened in Anambra State. So, we want a situation where there would be clear division, both in governance and, of course, where you have the executives and the legislators. They seem to be working together. I mean, it doesn’t have to be so. There has to be a practical definition of executive functions and legislative functions, which is to make law. But sometimes you see that there has never been any argument between the legislators and the executives. In which case, they are one in one person. They are together in the struggle. Everything the governor does doesn’t seem to be very well, very okay. But there has never been any opposition to that. I don’t want to mention anything in particular, but I am just telling you that that is where my anger lies. There has to be a clear division of labour.

In other words, Anambra legislators, particularly at the state level, have not been performing well. Is that what you’re saying?

They may be doing some things well. I don’t know. I have not taken any assessment of their works. But I am telling you that if it is in a proper democracy, there must have to, at one time or another, be an argument. There must be separation of power. There seems to be none here in the state. So the governor works with the legislators at the same time, doing the same thing at the same time, all the time. To me, it doesn’t truly show true democracy, because there has to be that understanding. There must be, because I know everything the governor does will be fine. In that case, there has to be a legislative arm of the government taking some decisions. The governor needs to be up and doing, but now the governor does whatever seems right to him. Whatever that seems right to the governor is what he does, while the legislators are there, saying nothing and doing nothing. The governor will give them something to sign, they will sign. The governor is using them like they’re his boys. It is not supposed to be so. These are practically two distinct bodies. They will have to have two separate functions; the state Assembly, which is the legislative arm of the government of Anambra State, and then the executive arm of Anambra State. The judiciary is trying to do well, but to an extent, they seem to be compromised. So the government of Anambra State is like a unitary type of government, because the governor does it all and says it all.

Do you not think that the people have also contributed to the problem by selling their votes during elections?

That is the bane. That is the bane of this society. For instance, this is our congress today, people say, are you sharing money? That is why most people are not here, because we didn’t share money. So that is true to type, because the entire federation of Nigeria has been bastardised with that kind of attitude. If you don’t give me money, that is why everybody is following anybody, whether he’s doing well or not. Don’t be surprised that come 2027, a lot of them will vote for Tinubu again because of money they will share. But the right-thinking person should not. Like me, I don’t accept money from anybody. I don’t accept money from anybody because I vote my conscience. And I won’t vote for you because you are giving me money. If you give me money, if I want to take it, I will take it based on the fact that the money could be Nigerian money. And I am a Nigerian. If it is Nigeria’s money, I can take it. But I will not vote for you because you have given me the money because I believe that money is my right. But in the long run, going by my understanding, I don’t accept money to vote for you. So practically, the electorate is not free from this accusation I am levelling against these people. They contribute. There is no masses’ voice in Anambra State. That’s why everything is happening the way it is happening. Imagine Governor Soludo going to lock up Onitsha Main Market for no reason. Nobody can stake one’s life because you want to trade, because you want to obey the governor. When you don’t have complete security apparatus available to defend you. So I think Nigeria and Anambra State in particular should address these issues. And it will come from the electorate. If anybody moves now to speak against the government of Anambra, the person will be gone after. That’s true.

You have candidates already for this election, National Assembly election, and the state. What are your fears about this election?

If elections are not rigged, my candidates will win. They will win convincingly. But I am afraid that because of these moneybags, they may be affected by that because Nigeria is simply not a very good society for democracy, for the practice of democracy; because if you give me money, I vote for you. It’s not democratic anymore. I may vote against my conscience, but I will vote because I want money. I am hungry. The masses are hungry. That is why they accept money. I am not justifying that. How many of us are principled that they won’t accept money to vote? It is only those who refuse your money and vote their consciences that are called democrats. That is me for you. So my only fear is if we are to go to the ballots to cast our votes judiciously, all my candidates will win, because the credibility in their constituencies speaks for themselves. That’s it.

What is your general assessment of Governor Soludo’s performance so far?

Well, I wouldn’t say much here. A lot of things are bad. A lot of things too are good. So it is in-between the two of them. If you can marry good with the bad, no problems. But I would have assumed that things would have been going well all the time, having the state assembly by their side. So whenever you take a decision as an executive arm, and the legislators come against those decisions, you can adjust. But rather than adjust, you will force it on them. So that is why things remain the way they are here in this state.

But personally, are you satisfied with Soludo’s performance?

I am not, but because I don’t have a good voice to say that, being a lone person. Anambra State is like, you don’t say what you want to say, for fear that you maybe lynched.