Director-general of the Peter Obi presidential campaign council, Doyin Okupe, has noted that the analysis of Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, on the chances of Obi has nothing to do with “common sense”.
Okupe who spoke on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television, said the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) spoke from a position of “political delusion”.
On Monday, Soludo, in an article titled ‘History Beckons and I Will Not Be Silent (Part 1)’, said Obi, presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), cannot win the 2023 election.
Soludo’s comments on the chances of Obi in the 2023 election have elicited reactions on and off social media.
Responding to Soludo’s comments, Okupe said, “Ordinarily, I won’t join issue with Soludo, but so that people will not get disinformed by his very unsound judgment of the political status of Labour Party in the Nigerian context, that is the only reason why I will say one or two words.
“He must be living in another planet. I don’t know what is blinding him for him to say that there are only two people in this race — APC and PDP. Even a blind person and a young child of nine years old know that this is absolute fallacy.
“Professor Soludo must be indulging in self-political delusion. Today, 90 percent of polls done say Peter Obi is well ahead of the other contestants. It is no longer news that it is a three-cornered race.
“Even in the three-cornered race, we are no longer the third force. We have now taken over and bypassed the two establishments and these two are now contesting for second and third positions. Professor Soludo’s pronouncement has nothing to do with reality or common sense.”
Speaking further, Okupe said it is a “ludicrous” for Soludo to say Obi will get 25 percent of the total votes cast in four states of the federation.
The LP campaign director-general expressed confidence that the party will win the presidential election in all the south-east states.
“I’m happy that he conceded that Peter Obi will win Anambra state. That is good news. Where he messed it up completely, and it makes the whole thing looks ludicrous, was when he said Peter Obi will get 25 percent in maybe four states of the federation. That is a joke,” he added.
“Professor Soludo is a professor of economics, not a soothsayer or prophet. Definitely, he is not too grounded politically. The five states in the south-east, come rain and sunshine, nobody will beat Peter Obi.”
I recall sometimes back in 2014 I met Soludo on a flight from Addis Ababa to Nigeria; I was coming back from Sandton Johannesburg where I attended the World Conference of the Global Business Roundtable GBR.
I met Soludo for the first time on that Flight. My brother had served him as The Administrator, CBN Governors Office back then when He was CBN Governor. I so much respected him, infact I waited at the first class cabinet to exchange pleasantries with him. I recalled clearly telling him he is one of the few Leaders Nigeria needed on the political platform.
I was so overjoyed when he came out to contest in the Governorship ticket. I spoke to some of my friends in the Institute for National Transformation INT, who worked closely with Peter Obi then on the ‘Anambra Project’ that helped Peter Obi to win the Anambra Governorship ticket, to put in the same efforts to help Soludo win. I was glad they did and he won. I did this out of respect for Soludo, not minding that I’m a plateau man. I am shocked to hear such comments from a man I so respected. I’m confused. Please someone should kindly talk to Soludo. Is all well with him or is he undergoing some ancestral visitation attacks? I can’t believe a man in his calibre can make such utterances against his own brother and Predecessor, who worked so hard to set a standard in his home state and is working round the clock to replicate same in the country.
Here in Plateau State, we cannot go to our villages to sale any other presidential candidate aside Obi to the people and get their respect and favourable response. People are tired of bad governance people want a leader that would give them a conducive platform to be productive. Our people feel that Obi Has the basic requisite capacity, commitment, capabilities, discipline, and and willingness to make this happen and they are willing and ready to give him the opportunity to lead them.
What is happening in Igbo Land? Why is it that any Igbo man who wants to have respect from Nigerians especially from the nort always feels that he must seek to pull down his own brother to be accorded that respect?
If this happened amongst the not well educated Igbo trades we could excuse that, but for a Former CBN Governor, the country’s Chief Economist,….. Hmmmmmmm our Igbo brothers still have centuries of political wondering to do in the wilderness. May God Open your eyes sha. May God give you a Moses to withstand Pharaoh and to part the Red Sea. May God appoint a Joshua to bring down your walls of Jericho, help you cross the Jordan and take you to the Promise Land
Every time you hear a Nigerian politian speaking realise he can’t help himself. Until they realise that they are delegated and deliver the prayers of those who sent them which being OBIDIENT the politician cannot say that they represent their people. Soludo has lost himself like Tinubu, Atiku and many others
Fail to realise the people’s will be OBIDIENT.
Oni and Datti lead Nigeria.