Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The political confrontation between a former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, and Governor Chukwuma Soludo intensified yesterday, as Obi’s media office accused the governor of becoming so preoccupied with his predecessor that he was allegedly neglecting critical governance challenges confronting the state.
The Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR), in a statement by its spokesman, Idris Zekeri Jnr., also alleged that Soludo’s administration had deployed public resources to sustain a campaign against the former governor instead of addressing infrastructure, education, environmental and public-safety concerns.
The allegations followed a publication from the Soludo administration urging Anambra voters to reject Obi and opposition political forces.
But POMR dismissed the campaign as evidence of what it described as the governor’s growing political obsession with Obi, urging him to concentrate on governing the state.
“Instead of obsessing over Obi, the governor should use those hours to tour Anambra and see how state funds are being wasted on roads that crumble while construction is still ongoing,” Zekeri said.
According to him, the administration’s alleged fixation on Obi had become so pronounced that some insiders were reportedly complaining about the governor’s preoccupation with the former governor during meetings of the State Executive Council.
“We are told by people within the administration that the governor spends half of EXCO meetings obsessing over Peter Obi. If that is indeed the case, then it raises a fundamental question: who is governing Anambra?” the statement asked.
The statement stated that the latest attacks had compelled the Obi camp to respond, particularly because, in its view, the administration was attempting to blame Obi for problems that fell squarely within the responsibility of the incumbent government.
“We are putting them on record now, so that tomorrow nobody will say Peter Obi was the phantom distraction that prevented them from working,” Zekeri said.