By SHEDDY OZOENE
When Professor Chukwuma Soludo indicated interest in becoming governor of Anambra State, there was so much excitement in the air. Here was a globally respected economist, a technocrat of uncommon intellect, and one of Ndigbo’s brightest stars—armed with credentials that promised to redefine governance in the state. His rise from a respected academic to Presidential economic adviser under Olusegun Obasanjo, and later, Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, put him head and shoulders above other aspirants. When one adds his “Dubai-Taiwan” vision, one would appreciate why the imagination of the people who are famous for their high business acumen, was electrified like never before.
Yet, as his first tenure gradually winds down, the reality has been sobering. For many who saw him as the embodiment of hope, his handling of the state has been disappointing. Instead of the wisdom, tact, and statesmanship that his pedigree suggested, Soludo’s conduct has exposed troubling lapses in judgment and temperament. The lingering question remains: how did such a promising start unravel so quickly?
Soludo has made some notable strides. He has consolidated his grip on APGA, giving him unusual leverage as both governor and party leader. He has redeveloped the Government House in Awka, embarked on visible infrastructural projects like the Ekwulobia flyover, two dual carriageways, several roads, and taken steps to tackle insecurity. His calls for a return to values of dignity over the “get-rich-quick” culture resonated with many, and his battles against those who enable that culture have drawn wide support within and outside the state.
Yet, instead of consolidating these gains, Soludo has mixed this noble path with unnecessary distractions that continue to unsettle even his most ardent supporters. His public quarrels, his penchant for needless battles, and his graceless handling of public affairs have, regrettably, become the more defining features of his administration.
The signs were always there. Since leaving the exalted office of CBN Governor, he has picked quarrels with some of the South East’s leading lights, some of who qualify to be called his mentors. In a rare display of arrogance, he has carried himself in ways that ensure those who disagree with him receive the sharp edge of his tongue.
His 2015 public spat with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala revealed this combative streak, following a previous disagreement with Prof. Dora Akunyili. When he took on the Jonathan administration’s economic policies, he virtually accused the National Economic Management Team headed by Okonjo-Iweala of mismanagement, a charge she strongly rebutted. Soludo fired back with a scathing rejoinder titled “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Missing Trillions (1),” in which he accused the minister, more or less, of criminal negligence. He then did the unthinkable by challenging her to a public debate. It was a self-serving offer she was not prepared to accept, mainly because it was, in the opinion of one public commentator, ‘an invitation to wrestle with a pig’.
This was a glimpse of Soludo, the man who eventually proved his preparedness to cut down any iroko in his quest for power, for indeed, as public opinion held at the time, he was trying once again to ingratiate himself into the warm embrace of the APC opposition that many had projected would win the general election of that year. Madam Ngozi however, warned Nigerians about “intellectuals without character and wisdom”—a reference to Soludo that now seems prophetic.
As governor, Soludo has managed to alienate some of Anambra’s most prominent figures, haughtily talking down on people. Ndi Anambra have watched as their governor severally displayed rascally conduct unbecoming of his high office.
His recent altercation with Senator Uche Ekwunife, where he questioned her academic credentials, degenerated into a demeaning exchange that dragged the state’s politics to a new low. For him to not only challenge her qualifications but go further—without evidence—to allege that the former lawmaker who had represented the state in both chambers of the National Assembly, paraded fake certificates and was therefore unfit for the office she was contesting, was reckless.
Some undiscerning people have said the comment was harmless, considering that the state was in an election campaign. I totally disagree. Everything is wrong with it. The issue is not whether his accusations hold merit, but that a certain standard is expected of a highly respected intellectual occupying the high office of State governor. Preserving the dignity of that office imposes certain restraints. The question: was it in his place to descend to that low to seek political advantage over an opponent?
Not one to shy away from a fight, Senator Ekwunife hit back, not only mocking his oral hygiene and body odour but also insinuating that his wife had a questionable relationship with the late Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju.
Ekwunife’s attack on the state’s First Lady was unnecessary even if it was intended as a collateral damage. To her credit, however, Mrs. Soludo rose firmly to the occasion—defending her honour and fidelity and even taking the offensive against the Senator. Her fiery response, including a challenge that both swear an oath of chastity and fidelity before the Blessed Sacrament, that sacred Catholic symbol, was an uppercut that could have disfigured even Leon Spinks.
In the heat of the altercation, a private phone conversation between Senator Ekwunife and an associate was leaked to the public, allegedly by the governor’s media team. Clearly recorded without her knowledge or consent, the leak went beyond ordinary political rivalry—it was unethical and disgraceful.
Anambra’s political conversations are becoming more toxic by the day. For many, this is the lowest the state has witnessed. A sitting governor enjoys a wide liberty, but making wild and salacious, unsubstantiated allegations is certainly not one of them. Neither is the rascally and indecent manner in which the state’s political conversations have been pushed on Soludo’s watch.
For the first time, even Soludo, who relishes demeaning others, appears rattled. His wife may have defended her honour strenuously but it was a battle she never bargained for—one sparked entirely by her husband’s indiscretions.
If his open attack on Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in 2015 was tactless, his comments of Peter Obi’s presidential aspiration was downright reckless. An illustrious son of the state, Peter Obi experienced the bitter part of Soludo’s ‘bad mouth’ in the run-up to the 2023 election. The governor had attacked him so relentlessly in a manner that irritated people of the state, considering the high regard in which they hold Peter Obi. In an article titled ‘History Beckons and I Will Not Be Silent’, the governor said the LP candidate who was former governor of Anambra State from 2006 to 2014, “did not have the necessary structure to win the Presidency on the Labour Party platform.” Earlier, during an interview on Channels TV ‘Politics Today’ he had told viewers that the Obi’s investment in a brewery, on behalf of the state government, was yielding next to nothing.
Though it was not in the governors place to so undermine his predecessor, Obi had largely ignored the persistent mockery, the ridiculing of his presidential bid and belittling of his investments in Anambra. Ekwunife, characteristically, chose to fight back, and the result is an embarrassing spectacle for the state.
These personal altercations are bad enough, coming from a governor; worse still for a state he had promised to reinvent. When you add the concerns being raised over the government’s operatives, one would appreciate the sordid state of affairs in Anambra on Soludo’s watch. Increasingly, the real intention behind the ‘laudable’ policies and the agencies he established, are being questioned. Reports suggest that the ‘Operation Udo Ga-Achi’, his much-touted security initiative, is increasingly being deployed as a political tool to intimidate opponents rather than protect citizens. Even civil agencies like the one that supervises public sanitation, have turned guns they should not have possessed in the first place, on hapless citizens while more and more ordinary citizens are bearing the brunt of overzealousness on the part of his government’s tax enforcement officials. All these fuel the perception of a government losing its moral compass.
The tragedy is that Soludo does not seem bothered. His arrogance blinds him to the disgrace his conduct foists on the state and the danger it poses to his political future. He seems to believe that Ndi Anambra’s historic bond with APGA—rooted in the legacy of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu—guarantees him automatic reelection. It is a dangerous assumption, for Ndi Anambra are discerning. They have, in the past, risen above sentiment to punish arrogance, and if Soludo continues on his current trajectory, he risks becoming the first Anambra governor denied a second term.
Yes, Ndi Anambra have long kept faith with APGA, but this time, that loyalty is being taken for granted. As my friend, Sony Igboanugo, has warned: the dishonourable displays we are witnessing now may be child’s play compared to what will unfold if Soludo secures a second term. That second term has now become so much an obsession that he is prepared to sacrifice all he stood for, to achieve it.
His conduct since assuming office in March 2022 has raised serious concerns—not just about his emotional intelligence and leadership ability, but about how the dazzling academic credentials that once set him apart have failed to translate into wisdom and statesmanship.
As the November 8 election draws near, the issue is no more about whether the man has delivered on the symbolic Dubai-Taiwan vision. The question is: for how much longer will Ndi Anambra endure Soludo and his sordid indiscretions?
Sheddy Ozoene is Editor-In-Chief of People&Politics Nigeria’s leading publication on people, politics and policy.
