Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State mentioned he and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, are nice pals regardless of their political variations and ongoing rift.
Mr Soludo, who had been in a chronic face-off with Mr Obi, spoke in an interview with BBC Igbo on Monday.
“Peter Obi and I are huge pals. Even his household and my household are shut.
“His wife is my child’s baptismal godmother while my wife is his child’s confirmation godmother,” he mentioned.
The Anambra governor, who spoke largely in Igbo, pressured that his rift with the NDC candidate was fully political.
“When we talk of our political differences, everyone has their interests. We’re doing politics,” he acknowledged.
Mr Soludo, a former governor of CBN, then recalled that when he was the APGA governorship candidate for the 2021 Anambra governorship election, which he received, Mr Obi had supported Oselake Obaze, the then PDP candidate.
“He (Obi) had a special imaginative and prescient. He had somebody he believed was the appropriate particular person to develop into governor of Anambra State.
“I was also seeking to be governor then, but he supported who he wanted as governor. However, I prevailed by the grace of God. And I don’t hold it against him,” he mentioned.
Why Obi can’t defeat Tinubu in 2027
In late 2022, Mr Soludo predicted that Mr Obi, then Labour Party presidential candidate, wouldn’t win the 2023 presidential election, citing “lack of political structure” and poor voting energy of the South-east, the place he hails from.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC, the Anambra governor mentioned he stood by his phrases.
He advised it will be a lot tougher to defeat President Bola Tinubu within the forthcoming 2027 election due to incumbency benefit.
Mr Tinubu, who defeated Mr Obi within the 2023 election, is looking for re-election on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform.
“If you didn’t disarm a warrior while he was lying down, you wouldn’t do so while he was standing,” Mr Soludo mentioned, suggesting that Mr Obi was unlikely to defeat Mr Tinubu now, having not completed so in 2023 when the president was not in energy.
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“Even if he has united opposition, it does not guarantee that he will defeat an incumbent (President Tinubu),” he added.
The Anambra governor argued that the low South-east voting energy meant that Mr Obi wanted to collaborate with different areas to develop into president.
“I used to be the one who requested him to come back to choose the APGA presidential ticket in early March 2022.
“That was earlier than he contested for president in 2023. But asking him to choose the social gathering’s ticket didn’t imply he was going to win. It was for us to make use of the avenue to unite Igbo individuals.
“When we are united, you can then go into alliance with other regions to seek power,” he acknowledged.
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