The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has charged voters in Anambra to vote for the candidates of the party in the forthcoming House of Assembly elections, saying that they will not impeach the state governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, as is being speculated.
Obi made the call on Friday night, during an interview with journalists, after a closed-door meeting with the House of Assembly candidates in Awka, the Anambra State capital.
But in a swift response, Soludo has described the call by Obi for people of the state to vote massively for LP candidates as deceptive, adding that it was also meant to lay landmines for him.
The Labour Party’s presidential candidate was fielding questions on the claim made by Soludo in a viral video that he would not work with lawmakers from other political parties and that they would only receive salaries.
The former governor said his interest was for a better society and development, not for the governor’s removal. He charged the candidates to ensure they worked with Governor Soludo when they attained victory.
“We are not urging anyone to impeach any other person. We met with our assembly candidates, calling on Nigerians to vote for the Labour Party on Saturday.
“We are not asking anyone to go and impeach anyone. People should not be afraid of impeachment. We only seek to get things right in Nigeria. If schools are functional, hospitals working, and other facilities, we have no problem because that is our priority,” Obi explained.
However, the governor, through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Christian Aburime, has described Obi’s call as deceptive.
Aburime said: “That call was meant to deceive Anambra people. Obi cannot be talking about development in Anambra but also about asking the Anambra people to elect lawmakers from the opposition party to work with Soludo.
“He (Obi) worked with a legislature dominated by opposition lawmakers from the PDP when he first came in as governor, and he knows that it was not easy for him. He even suffered impeachment because of that, and we hope it is not the same thing he wants to set Soludo up for.
“Anambra people should go all out next Saturday and vote for APGA if they want the developmental strides of Mr. Governor to continue.
“Anambra people supported Obi during the presidential election, and besides, Soludo refused to interfere as the people trooped out to vote for Labour Party, even before Soludo made the environment conducive for people to come out and vote.
“We have voted for the Labour Party in the presidential election, but for the House of Assembly election, we are voting for APGA, and we want Anambra people to know so,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Obi has called on the LP supporters in Edo State to vote for party’s candidates during the state House of Assembly election on March 18.
He urged them to sustain the tempo by voting all the candidates of the party in the Saturday, March 18, state House of Assembly and governorship elections across the state.
Obi, who made this call when he paid a ‘Thank you’ visit to the state, moved with his convoy from the New Benin Market through Mission Road to Sapele Road before terminating at Adesuwa Road, where he addressed a large crowd of supporters.
He urged the supporters to complete what they had started on February 25 by voting en masse for Labour Party candidates in the March 18 elections, adding that a movement that cannot be stopped had commenced.
He said,” I must urge the Labour Party supporters not to be discouraged by the outcome of the presidential election.
“Nigeria must not be allowed to remain the way it is. There must be a paradigm shift from the present state to a better and prosperous Nigeria.
“We have begun the journey of a new Nigeria. The movement is real, and nobody can stop it. We will not allow Nigeria to remain the way it is. We will continue to vote for the Labour Party,” Obi said.
He said a retreat would be organised for all the victorious candidates of the Labour Party to teach them what to do in the quest to change the political narratives of the country.
The national chairman of the party, Julius Abure, said the candidates for the House of Assembly election in Edo State had not stepped down for anyone and that no Labour Party candidate was being sponsored by any other party.
He appealed to the residents of the state to come out en masse to vote for candidates of the party to secure victory.
Earlier, the state chairman of the party, Kelly Agbaloi, thanked the presidential candidate, and the national chairman for visiting the state adding that their presence had further given a boost to all the ‘Obidient’ supporters in the state.
David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka and Adibe Emeyonu in Benin-City
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