As the next gubernatorial election for Anambra State in 2025 begins to take shape, Labour Party chieftain, Chief Valentine Ozigbo, has thrown his hat into the ring, squaring him against incumbent governor and professor of developmental economics, Charles Chukwuma Soludo who will be seeking his constitutionally permitted second term in office.
Ozigbo made the revelation during an engagement with journalists in Anambra over the weekend.
He said he had given the governor at least two years in office to assess his performance and deems it subpar hence the need for him to step in and make a difference.
“Although some may find merit in Soludo’s leadership over the past two years, I remain unconvinced. It’s time to hold him accountable,” he said.
“I am a strategist. I have all it takes to govern Anambra State perfectly well and by the Grace of God, I will be the flag bearer of the Labour Party in the 2025 governorship election in the state.
“I’m here to share my thoughts with you, what I think and no matter how you see what he (Soludo) is doing, you will be more proud when I mount the saddle”.
Expressing confidence in his ability to lead the state to greater heights, Ozigbo stressed the need to shift the narrative from zoning and prioritize governance competence for Anambra’s development.
“I respect zoning, and I will be making a case for a single term of four years”
Val. Ozigbo
Ozigbo who hails from Anambra South just as Mr Soludo said because of the subsisting rotational principle for the governorship in the state among the three zones, he will be offering to serve a single term, remarking that an observation of the performance of another LP governor, Alex Otti in Abia State proves that “four years is enough time to do a lot of work”.
“I respect zoning, and I will be making a case for a single term of four years”
“Zoning is a good thing. But it must be combined with competence to make sense. Don’t pick a renegade just because he is from a certain zone, and don’t pick the best when you know you can pick one that is better than the best.
“I will honour that principle of zoning, and I will not need anyone’s push or prompting to do otherwise. I will be ready to do an agreement and sign an undertaking that I will do just one term”.
Throwing around the name of the popular politician Peter Obi – the leader of his party, into the conversation, he said, “I also wish to tell you that Obi has been consistent that a Southerner who emerges will only do one term.”
Mr Ozigbo contested the last election in 2021 under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and came second with 53,807 votes to Soludo’s 112,229.
He dumped the party in 2022 to join his principal Peter Obi in the LP who was running for the presidential ticket.
The 54-year-old Ozigbo is a chartered accountant and banker, and the immediate past President and Chief Executive Officer of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria plc (Transcorp) – a diversified conglomerate with strategic investments and interests in the hospitality, agribusiness and energy sectors.
Under him, Transcorp Hotel expanded to several cities in Nigeria besides Abuja and consolidated its status as the leading hotel in the country.
Enter, Ifeanyi Ubah
But Ozigbo is not the only politician stirring the hornets’ nest in Anambra State. Just last weekend, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah of the All Progressives Congress (APC) hosted a well-attended mega empowerment rally at Ifeanyi Ubah Internation Stadium, Nnewi, which drew top echelon of the ruling party, including its National Chairman, Dr Abdulahi Ganduje and many federal legislators and dignitaries.
Although thousands of empowerment materials were distributed, pundits were not fooled by the political imperative of the event. Ubah has contested every gubernatorial election in his state since 2014.
Anambra State – a land of billionaire adroit businessmen and industrialists tend to have very intense elections. In the last one in 2021, the federal government of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari threatened to declare a state of emergency in the state, and only then did the centripetal and centrifugal political forces at play let the elections go fairly seamlessly.
INEC is yet to release a timeline for the election next year.
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