Chief Ernest Ezeajughi is the Chief of Staff to the governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo. In this interview with OKEY MADUFORO, he speaks on the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state and why his principal would be reelected

The atmosphere appears tensed ahead of the governorship election. What informed that?

Well, I don’t know what you me by the atmosphere appears to be over charged, but all that I can say is that we are in politics and every candidate and their respective political parties are moving about campaigning and that may be what you described as over charged . But in the real sense, the use of over charged appears negative but that is not correct.

In the history of Anambra State politics, it has never been a do-or-die affair because it is a brotherly contest, and at the end, the election would surely be peaceful.

Is that your defence for the war of words between Governor Charles Soludo and his opponents which many feel was started by the governor?

Again, that is not correct and it is improper to go with that impression. Governor Soludo didn’t start the war of words but his opponents like Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who has been boasting that President Bola Tinubu gave him a command to capture Anambra State for him.

When you know the meaning of the word ‘capture,’ you will agree with me that it sounds like a warfare and Anambra State is been regarded as an empire that must be captured, and every Anambra person, including those who are not from state would become captives.

This concept of putting Anambra State into captivity is unacceptable to us as All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and as a government and we take exception to that. We are Anambra people and we are the Light of the Nation and when you put the Light of the Nation in captivity, the entire Nigerian nation would automatically be in captivity.

Some candidates in the other parties said that Anambra is a failed state thereby throwing tantrum on the current administration but they failed to understand that if Anambra is a failed state, they as indigenes of Anambra State are also failed persons. So, the comments of Governor Soludo on the November election is simple and deliberate in the sense that you cannot falsify or lie about your credentials and want to be governor of one of the states that have the most highly educated and very informed people .

So, the governor believes that he or she that must go to equity must go with clean hands and that equity is the Anambra electorate that would judge and deliver judgement if you are clean or not. That judgement is how they will vote in the election and who they would vote for. So, if anybody is angling to be governor of Anambra State through falsehood, it cannot work because whatever he or she is going to do there would be enmeshed in total and absolute falsehood.

Does it mean the Governor Soludo is the only saint in this election?

We are not taking about saints or no saint but about what Anambra people want at this point. When you understudy these other candidates you will see that they are just participating and not contesting.

They are just there to fulfill the relevant sections of the Nigerian constitution that stipulate that there must be an election every four years and political parties and their candidates shall contest. So, in this election, they are merely participating.

If anybody is angling to be governor of Anambra State through falsehood, it cannot work because whatever he or she is going to do there would be enmeshed in total and absolute falsehood

Again, what are they bringing to the table for the contest and what are the issues? They would be talking about road infrastructure, education, health youth empower ment, security and all that. All of us know that Governor Soludo is doing all this and still counting and that means they do not have anything to bring to the table.

Another funny thing about the opposition is that they are neck deep in complaints and criticisms but would never proffer solutions to anything they are talking about because it is easier to sit down somewhere over a drink or in a television studio and reel out mistakes of a sitting governor but you have no solution and there is nothing you can do differently if you find yourself there.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition is the talk in town and the first test of that coalition is the Anambra governorship election. How comfortable is your party going into the election?

They are still on the process which is at the tooting stage, and at this stage, they cannot be experimenting with the Anambra election because it is not for nonstarters.

The coalition that you named ADC is not set yet and they are yet to agree on the name of the coalition, so they are not prepared for this election. Maybe, by 2027, they would have been prepared for elections. And come to think of it, these are political strangers that lost out in the power play and because in politics, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then we can have a coalition.

They would be discussing who would take which position and who will be the presidential candidate, and with the kind of people in that coalition, one wonders who would step down for the other, who becomes the Senate president, speaker of House of Representatives and all that.

And if they can’t agree, the coalition will crash. Again, what impact is the coalition making on their supporters? What are they telling them that would make them believe that the coalition is for their own good and in their best interest?

The only objective and ambition is to remove the president or the governor but they are wasting their time in criticisms, self-glories and playing to the gallery. The time they should spend on strategizing is being spent on playing to the gallery, while Governor Soludo is busy commissioning and flagging off projects.

So, the ADC coalition is not in existence in Anambra State and this also played out in the last by-elections that took place in the state. Where was the opposition or the coalition when their respective candidates couldn’t win at their polling units? Where was the coalition when they couldn’t have the maximum number of agents at the effected polling units?

These are pointers to the fact that there is no coalition in Anambra State and don’t forget that the APC is not part of the so-called coalition as well as some other parties and among the Labour Party and the ADC, and there are still gray areas of clarification.

Recently, the ADC stated that everyone should officially register with the party and make it clear that they are no longer members of their former parties and some people there are not comfortable with that.

That is confusion within the ranks of the socalled coalition and that confusion is to the advantage of APGA and Governor Soludo. While they keep themselves occupied with those contending issues, we in APGA are consolidating and even receiving converts from the opposition and the so-called coalition.