The ferocity, persistence and intentionality of Professor Chukwuma Soludo’s attacks on Peter Obi must strike many as inexplicable, even abnormal. Soludo is the current governor of Anambra State; Obi is a former governor of the state. While both belong to different parties and have divergent political interests, it’s hard to fathom why Soludo is traducing Obi so ferally, even using state machinery. Indeed, the fact that the Anambra State government itself is fighting Obi makes the attacks more damaging. The governor and his administration are calling Obi a “liar”, striking at the hearts of the values of character, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, etc., that Obi claims define him and on which he anchors his presidential ambitions. Clearly, Soludo and his government are “demarketing” Obi, telling Nigerians he’s not what and who he claims to be. But what’s Soludo’s endgame? To what end is the animus?
As far as I can tell, there’s little evidence that Obi has openly antagonised Soludo. That said, as I wrote last week, Obi’s behaviour at Soludo’s one-year anniversary celebration, when he arrived late and received a rockstar-like reception from the whooping audience during the governor’s speech, was provocative. Watch the video and you’ll see Governor Soludo looking flummoxed and flustered, telling the audience “It’s OK! It’s OK!” as they kept screaming “Obi! Obi! Obi!” Governor Soludo’s wife, Nonye, barely acknowledged Obi’s greetings, her arms folded in apparent defiance. Clearly, all was not well between the Soludos and the Obis.
The family nature of the feud became more glaring last week when Mrs Soludo denied Obi’s claim that he and his wife, Margaret, were godparents to the Soludos’ children. Obi had said: “People might not know, my wife and I are godparents to the Soludos’ children.” But Mrs Soludo swiftly ordered her media aide to issue a statement denying that Obi was a godparent to any of her children. According to the statement, Obi’s wife was the “baptismal godmother” to one of the Soludos’ daughters, while Mrs Soludo herself was the “confirmation godmother” to Obi’s daughter. The statement then went on to say that Obi’s wife being the godmother to the Soludos’ daughter did not make her husband a godparent to that daughter, based on “the canon laws of the Catholic Church”.
But that “logic” is perverse and ridiculous. Think about it. Doesn’t the fact that Mrs Obi is the godmother to the Soludos’ daughter make her husband, de facto if not de jure, a godparent to that daughter? Can Mrs Obi be an effective godmother without her husband being somehow involved and supportive? Do the canon laws of the Catholic Church seek to separate husband and wife in matters of baptismal parenthood? Isn’t Mrs Soludo “first lady” simply because her husband is governor, even though the Constitution doesn’t recognise the office of “First Lady”? So, why is Mrs Soludo hiding behind the legalism of “the canon laws of the Catholic Church” to violate conventional wisdom just to feed the narrative that Peter Obi is a “liar”?
But let’s leave aside the mundane issue of “baptismal parenthood”. The real fight is political. The family dimension is only collateral damage. Since Obi declared his presidential ambition in 2022, Soludo has viscerally opposed his aspiration and viciously attacked his personality. Truth be told, Soludo is a ruthless fighter; he fights dirty! Professor Soludo’s brutal barbs against Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in 2015 prompted the former finance minister to describe him as a “so-called intellectual without character and wisdom”. Soludo prides himself on “always saying it as it is” and “not shying away from a good fight”. But he lacks the ability to be persuasive without being offensive, a trait he has demonstrated in his “good fight” against Obi, first before the 2023 presidential poll and now ahead of 2027!
Let’s start with 2023. Soludo penned a piece titled “History beckons and I will not be silent.” It was steeped in utter disdain and vitriol. He viciously attacked Obi’s economic management record, disparaging his “claimed investment” and “so-called savings” as Anambra State governor from 2006 to 2014. Then, he poopooed Obi’s chances as a presidential candidate, saying: “Let’s be clear: Peter Obi knows that he can’t win and won’t win.” He even predicted that Obi would “only get 25 per cent in just four states”. But, in the end, Obi won 12 states outright, including Lagos and Abuja, and got 25 per cent in 17 states. And he won 6.1mn votes nationally. Given that a person can become president if he gets 25 per cent in just 24 states, being two-thirds of 36 states, and secures a plurality of the votes cast nationally, it’s clear that, with 17 states and 6mn votes, Obi nearly won the election, and even probably won but for INEC’s mysterious “technical glitch”. Soludo betrayed an air of omniscience and intellectual arrogance in his predictions and assessment of Obi’s presidential chances and yet refused to apologise when he came a cropper; instead, he doubled down on his rhetoric!
Which brings us to 2027 and the toxic anti-Obi climate. To be sure, Obi is partly guilty of self-immolation. As I wrote last week, he is wrong to stake his presidential ambition on his performance as Anambra State governor some 12 years ago, and on setting himself up as a paragon of integrity and an exemplar of good governance. Perversely, Obi vowed to quit the presidential race if anyone could show he owed any salary or left any debt when he left office in 2014. Why should he put himself in such a situation, thereby becoming a legitimate object of attack? No governor in Nigeria could sensibly claim he owed no salary or left no debt. Obi allowed Soludo, his arch-enemy, to go digging to prove him wrong. And that’s what Soludo, a former CBN governor, did, digging out “evidence” to discredit Obi’s claims.
In a document titled “Governor Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies”, published on its website, the Anambra State government said Obi left eight different external loans and owed “verified salaries, gratuity and pensions to retired teachers and staff of Water Corporation”, in addition to leaving a state with “dead public schools and dead public hospitals with grossly inadequate teachers and medical personnel.” The government’s position is that Obi could not brag about the investment and savings he claimed to make while there’s so much poverty, insecurity and decrepit infrastructure in the state. But what struck me more about the document was the language the government used throughout, such as “You obviously lied” and “You blatantly lied”. Of course, Obi refused to quit the race, questioning the Anambra State government’s narrative. But clearly, Governor Soludo and his government are determined to shred to smithereens Obi’s image of Mr Prudence, Mr Integrity and Mr Good Governance!
But why? First, Governor Soludo is supporting President Tinubu’s re-election; therefore, destroying Obi politically is fair game. That’s why Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s media aide, always amplifies the Anambra State government’s attacks on Obi’s credibility. Second, there’s potentially something in it for Soludo. During Governor Soludo’s one-year anniversary celebration, former President Obasanjo told him to see the governorship as an “appetiser”, saying the “main course” was a national role. “Use this governorship as an appetiser,” Obasanjo said, “and then the main course will come later”, suggesting Soludo should aim for the presidency.
Well, there’s a snag, a big one! By the time power returns to the South in 2039, after Tinubu’s second term, assuming he wins next year, and the North’s eight years, Soludo, now 66, would be 79. Unless he mimics Atiku Abubakar, he would be too old to run. However, he could join the APC next year; after all, he’s already saying that APGA and APC are kindred spirits. Once in the APC, he could seek to be running mate to the party’s northern presidential candidate in 2031, presumably with Tinubu’s support. Is that the endgame? Is that why he’s aligning with Tinubu? Is that why he wants to destroy Obi politically? But Obi may then be his nemesis. Beware the law of karma!
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