All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Anambra State, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, has stated that he is the only politician in the state who has the capacity to defeat the incumbent governor in the November 2025 governorship election.
The politician made the remark during an interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica on Sunday, during which he spoke about his chances of becoming the next governor of the southeast state.
The former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2021 election in the state insisted that the “real politicians in the Anambra State know that I am the only one with the capacity to defeat Gov. Soludu.”
Mr. Valentine Ozigbo narrated how, as a new entrant into politics, he was able to give a strong showing in the 2021 off-cycle governorship election in the state in which Prof. Charles Soludu won.
“I’ve never done anything in politics until 2021 when I contested the governorship election against Soludo, who was funded by the then incumbent governor, and Andy Uba, who had federal support as the APC candidate,” the former CEO of Transcorp noted. “Despite all the odds, I came second in that election ahead of the APC candidate.”
“I also showed purpose in 2023. Without any prompting, I followed and supported Peter Obi. When Soludu was criticizing and throwing stones at his presidential ambition, I was supporting him actively.”
Anambra State is one of the states that have off-cycle governorship elections in Nigeria. Prof. Soludu, who is the incumbent governor under the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), won his first term in 2021 by defeating Valentine Ozigbo of the PDP, Andy Uba of the APC, and the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who contested under the YPP, who where his main contenders. Governor Soludu will be seeking the vote of the Anambra State people for a second term in office in the November 2025 governorship election in the state.
However, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo has criticized the governor for his lackluster performance in office over the past three years. “Anambra State is unfortunately far from what we expected it to be,” he said. “What Soludo has done in the past three years has demonstrated his lack of capacity, emotional intelligence, and character to govern.”
He further explained that it is time for the state to join mainstream politics by connecting with the ruling APC at the center to attract more regional development.
The ex-banker accused past governors of the state, including Peter Obi, of shortchanging the people by entering into clandestine agreements with governments at the center for their support for reelection in exchange for defecting to the ruling party, but oftentimes failed to keep to the agreements. He said such actions have created a lack of trust for politicians in the state by the ruling party’s leadership at the center.
“They clandestinely go and make promises to the federal government that they never keep. They will promise to decamp to the ruling party if they get the support of the center to secure a second tenure.”
“Such acts are holding us down as a people. We need to break that. Let’s get into the mainstream so that Anambra State will be represented at the table, not the one that they go in the night to whisper,” Mr. Ozigbo stated.
