Soludo Challenges Peter Obi’s Record, Urges Igbos Not to “Waste Votes” Ahead of 2027

 Soludo Challenges Peter Obi’s Record, Urges Igbos Not to “Waste Votes” Ahead of 2027 Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo has again criti...

 Soludo Challenges Peter Obi’s Record, Urges Igbos Not to “Waste Votes” Ahead of 2027

Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo has again criticised former Anambra governor and presidential hopeful Peter Obi, questioning what Obi has delivered for the Igbo since entering politics and warning that the South-East should not repeat what he described as wasted votes.

“Ask him, since he has been in politics, what has he brought for the Igbos? Look at the bad state and erosion in Anambra for a long time. Since he started politics, what has he done about it? Then, when it’s time for election, you come and start playing with our emotions and still want us to waste our votes on you and remain where we are. It won’t happen again. 2027 will be different. We Igbos will get our own share this time around by voting right.”

Soludo has argued that in politics “you don’t get what you deserve; you get what you bargain for,” and that Igbo votes must be used as bargaining power rather than cast in protest. He has described votes for Obi and other opposition presidential candidates as “wasted votes.”

Soludo, the only All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governor in the country, has publicly aligned APGA with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as fellow “progressives.” During President Tinubu’s visit to Anambra and at other events this year, he pledged support for Tinubu ahead of 2027, saying the South-East should work with the centre rather than remain on the sidelines. He has also said Ndigbo should move from an “alliance of protest” to an “alliance for progress.”

Obi governed Anambra from 2006 to 2014. He was the Labour Party presidential candidate in 2023, when he won the bulk of votes in the South-East, and is now associated with a 2027 bid under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC). The two men have clashed repeatedly over Anambra’s record, including investments, poverty figures, infrastructure and, most recently, whether Obi left the state with outstanding external loans. Soludo’s government has listed facilities it says remain on the state’s books; Obi has rejected the characterisation and said he left savings and no unpaid salary, pension or gratuity obligations.

Erosion has long constituted a persistent challenge in Anambra State. Successive administrations, including that of Mr Obi, obtained federal and multilateral financing for watershed management and gully-control interventions. Governor Soludo’s remarks present the problem as unfinished business and contend that Mr Obi has not addressed it in any substantial manner throughout his years in public office.

Soludo has maintained that 2027 should be different: that the region should vote in a way that, in his words, delivers “our own share” through alignment with the government at the centre rather than another protest vote. Obi and his supporters have treated the attacks as politically motivated and have pointed to Obi’s 2023 performance in the South-East as evidence of popular support.

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