Founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr Chekwas Okorie, has attributed the prolonged disagreement between Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo and former governor Peter Obi to a series of past political clashes.
Okorie, in a statement titled “Soludo’s vendetta against Peter Obi must stop now”, alleged that Soludo’s opposition to Obi was rooted in events dating back to the 2009 Anambra governorship election, the 2013 APGA governorship primary and the 2023 general elections.
He said Soludo had allegedly continued to hold a grudge against Obi after losing the 2009 governorship election to him, being disqualified from the APGA governorship primary in 2013 and later seeing Victor Umeh defeat Soludo’s preferred candidate in the 2023 Anambra Central senatorial election before winning the seat on the Labour Party platform with Obi’s backing.
“I have watched with disgust and utter disappointment, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo's vicious and vile vendetta against Mr. Peter Obi,” Okorie said.
He alleged that Soludo believed Obi was involved in the decision by the then APGA leadership under Victor Umeh to prevent him from contesting the party’s governorship primary in 2013.
According to Okorie, Soludo’s first grievance against Obi dated to October 14, 2009, when Soludo emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate against Obi, who was seeking a second term.
“Peter Obi won the election resoundingly and beat Soludo to a distant third position. This is Peter Obi's first ‘offense’ to Soludo,” he said.
Okorie said Soludo’s second alleged grievance stemmed from his disqualification from the APGA primary in August 2013, adding that Soludo believed Obi was part of the conspiracy behind the decision.
He also linked the feud to the 2023 senatorial contest involving Victor Umeh. Okorie said Soludo, after becoming governor, had an opportunity to oppose Umeh during the 2023 elections following their earlier political differences.
He alleged that Soludo worked with APGA National Chairman Victor Oye to defeat Umeh at the party’s senatorial primary for Anambra Central.
Umeh subsequently moved to the Labour Party and won the senatorial election, with Obi then the party’s presidential candidate.
“This is Peter Obi's third ‘offense’,” Okorie said.
The APGA founder further alleged that Soludo had used his support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 presidential bid as a platform to oppose Obi.
“There have never been any altruistic motives behind the public posturing of Gov. Soludo to support President Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election. He is hiding under the cover of the so-called support for Tinubu to unleash his personal vendetta on Mr. Peter Obi,” he said.
Okorie also referred to Soludo’s 2023 article, “History Beckons and I Will Not Remain Silent”, as the point at which he publicly began attacking Obi ahead of the presidential election.
He urged Soludo to end what he described as continued attacks on Obi, while praising the proposed Peter Obi-Rabiu Kwankwaso political combination.
Okorie described Obi as “the most outstanding and the most popular presidential candidate on the presidential ballot in Nigeria today” and argued that an Obi-Kwankwaso ticket could promote national unity and reconciliation.
He said the National Democratic Congress (NDC), founded by former Bayelsa State governor Seriake Dickson, provided the platform for the proposed political arrangement.
According to him, the party’s emergence was significant because it represented the first contribution from the South-South geopolitical zone of a registered political party to Nigeria’s national politics since independence.
Okorie also credited Obi and Kwankwaso with increasing political awareness among Nigerian youths, saying the NDC’s growing following was the result of their engagement with young people and the wider population.
He, however, said Soludo had enough issues to address in Anambra State.
“As a professor of development economics, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Executive Governor of Anambra State, there are several issues challenging the people of Anambra State that are sufficient to keep Prof. Soludo busy,” he said.
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