From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Despite its lingering leadership crisis both at the national and state level, the Anambra State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared its readiness to not only participate in this year’s November 8 Anambra State governorship election but also clinch victory and occupy the Awka government house.
Former State Chairman of the Party and Secretary PDP Elders Council, Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu who stated this yesterday in Awka during an interview with newsmen said the party is strategizing and making frantic efforts to assemble those they consider as the “first eleven of the Party” for the guber contest.
Nwobu however admitted that the Party’s leadership challenges in recent times both at the state and National level affected the fortunes of the party, but insisted that Anambra is predominantly a PDP state as all prominent members of any dominant party in Anambra state today were all members of the PDP at one time or the other.
“We should bear in mind that PDP is a Party that has its roots in Anambra State. When you remember that the PDP had its foundation with Dr. Alex Ekwueme who was the former Vice President of this country. There is hardly any home you go into in Anambra State and mention PDP that people won’t have the consciousness of connecting to it in one way or the other. Even those you see in the other political parties have one connection or the other in the PDP. Even the current Governor of Anambra State once contested Governorship election under PDP. So, to this extent, don’t rule out PDP in the Anambra guber” he stated.
Nwobu while appraising the performance of Governor Soludo in the last three years affirmed that the governor has recorded impressive performance in the area of infrastructural development but stated that he failed in the area of security of the state.
“We must give it to Soludo. He has done well in the area of infrastructural development. You don’t take it away from him. But there is an area he has not done well. Let’s talk of security. He has not done well there. Even last effort he made in the security in this election season, personally, I call it ‘Aka-Odo style’,” he stated.
Chief Nwobu unequivocally stated that modern day security requires more than what is on the ground presently in Anambra under Soludo and said that if he would advise the governor, he would tell him plainly that “This is not kind of security Ndi Anambra needs for this modern day”.
“We need a security that is technologically driven. We need a security that if anything happens in Ifite road, within a period of two to three minutes, the whole access roads from Ifite roads would be blocked and the culprits would be apprehended. When you put up such innovation, the criminals will on their own run away. I want to see Anambra State where Security is thriving by technology not these Agu-nechemba security.
“These days, you can see some of them standing on the road and collecting money. Is that what we bargained for? That is not good for us. I said that these types of Security operation is archaic. Aka-Odo and Agu-nechemba is archaic. It is not a modern day security strategy,” he posited.
He stated that come November 8, 2025, Anambra electorates will determine who will be their governor through the ballot and described as arrogance the statement credited to Gov. Soludo who reportedly stated that he sees no challenger in the coming election.