Soludo will contest Anambra governorship election as APGA candidate, says campaign group

Charles Soludo, an aspirant for the November 6 governorship election in Anambra state, says he remains the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had been announced as the APGA governorship candidate at the party’s primary election, but in a list published on Friday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) picked Michael Umeoji over Soludo.

INEC had said it based its decision on a court order.

But Joe Anatune, the former CBN governor’s media aide, in a statement on Friday, said Soludo will contest the election and win.

Anatune said Soludo’s nomination as the party’s candidate was observed by INEC, adding that the process was in line with the electoral commission’s guidelines.

“Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo will participate in the governorship election as the APGA candidate. His nomination was strictly in line with the Electoral Law and INEC guidelines,” the statement reads.

“INEC observed the APGA Congress on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, where he was nominated after winning 93.4 per cent of the valid votes cast in a free, fair and transparent manner which was broadcast live on national television networks as part of deepening the democratic process in Nigeria.

“Our team of dedicated and competent legal experts has studied the judgment and is confident of overturning it effortlessly. The party is at liberty to nominate the rightful candidate so long as due process is followed. Soludo’s nomination followed due process religiously.

“Therefore, there is no need for Anambra people and all lovers of progress in Nigeria to be worried about the judgment. The judgment will be set aside the way orders by Mr Justice Stanley Nnaji of the Enugu State High Court and Mr Justice Egbo Egbo of the Federal High Court in Abuja were thrown out, when they embarrassed the legal profession with their decisions on the struggle for the governorship of Anambra State a few years after the inception of democratic governance in 1999. Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state were then toying with the destiny of a great state.”

The group called on Soludo’s supporters not to be deterred by the court order, but should remain confident that the former CBN governor will participate in the election.