*I governed as a trader, you are a Professor, perform better than me, Obi says
*As Okupe dismisses the governors assertions
Characteristically, Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), did not have to react with harsh words for Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the Anambra State Governor, despite the latter descending heavily on him with expletives and mudslinging.
Gov. Soludo had in a lengthy letter he personally authored, dismissed Obi, his tenure in office and savings he made when he left office, describing Obi’s joining the race for the presidency of the country as dead on arrival, passing a verdict that Obi would lose dismally.
The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said he was reacting to the groundswell of criticisms emanating from an earlier comments, in which he equally attacked Obi’s investments in Anambra State as “amounting to next to nothing*, accusing the LP candidate of attempting to fritter away the chances of Ndigbo by what he described as wasteful and unwarranted political journey.
And true to type, Obi chose not to retort back at the governor he described as “my state governor and my senior brother”, saying he never claimed to be “Mr. knowe-it-all”, and asked Prof. Soludo to continue from where he (Obi) stopped.
Obi reminded the governor that he was now in office and therefore should use the opportunity offered him to complete what he could not do while in office, stressing that governance is a continuum.
Acknowledging that in any economy, the value of investments could either go up or come down, the LP flag bearer declared that Soludo was actually in good stead to outperform his records given the difference in their individual attainments.
“He’s even better than me. He (soludo) now has the opportunity to do better than me. He is even more intelligent than me. He is a professor, I am a trader.
“I believe he would be better than me. Any school I didn’t roof, he should roof it. I have done my own.
However, a statement on Tuesday through one of the spokespersons of the ObiDatti Presidential Campaign Council, Ms, Ndi Kato, took on the Governor, thiugh soft, described Soludo as being desperate for the limelight, a desire he will not secure.
Kato explained that rather than dissipate energy responding to the falacies contained in Soludo’s article, Obi remains focused on galvanizing support for the task of redeeming Nigeria from the precipice.
According to her: “We read with amusement and dismay, a very lengthy and belaboured treatise of an article, written by Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Governor of Anambra State, focused on our Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Peter Obi.
“It seems obvious that Professor Soludo is itching for limelight, in this election season, perhaps fired up by possible understanding or alliance with our struggling political opponents.
“While we note the glaring fallacies, misrepresentations, personal insinuations and signs of personal vendetta in that long writeup, neither His Excellency Peter Obi, The Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation, nor the Labour Party, for that matter, has any interest in an extended engagement with Prof Soludo this critical time when there is a bigger fish to fry.
“His Excellency Peter Obi has his work well cut-out for him, this campaign season. Primarily, he is accelerating his reach-out and influence to all Nigerians, rural and urban, in all areas, regions and states; and firmly engaging them, on his critical and visionary plans to take the country from consumption to production.
“In doing this, Mr. Peter Obi is firmly placing the Youths, intensive Agricultural revolution, and revamping of critical areas of the economy as part of the focal points in the drive to turn around our fortunes and take back our country.
“We, the Youths, spreading across partisan political lines, have found reason to place the highest level of trust and confidence in HE Peter Obi, and we are committed to continuing partnership with him, transparently, vigorously and creatively, to bring to fruition, the vital changes urgently required in this our country, of so much potential.
“We strongly believe that A New Nigeria is possible… and together with Peter Obi, we are working to make this a reality. This is our focus; this is our occupation.. and we shall not be distracted.”
But, the Director-General of the Obi-Datti Campaign Council, Dr. Doyin Okupe, described Soludo as a drowning man, who has decided to misdirecr himself and would surely fail in governance.
Okupe, while speaking on Channels Television political programme, Politics Today, noted that Soludo was persuaded more by envy than by realistic thinking.
He noted that all the parameters put forward by Soludo were false, misconceived, and utterly irrelevant.
He said Soludo’s misunderstanding of the political dynamics of the country and the wave by Nigerians to pledge organic support to Peter Obi is not what Soludo can wish away.
Okupe maintained that “whether Soludo likes it or not, Peter Obi will not just poll more than 75 per cent of the votes cast in the five South-East states, but will win outrightly in the six South-South states, North-Central as well as poll reasonable number of votes in the South-West, North-East and North-West to be declared president.
