Umeh: Soludo supporting Tinubu because he spends Anambra’s funds, can’t feel pain of bad governance

In this interview with Ifeizu Joe, senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District insists Peter Obi will win 2027 polls. Says Soludo is supporting Tinubu because he can’t feel the pains of ordinary Nigerians

One issue bothering Nigerians in the coming election is how votes can be protected. Do you think things will be different from what happened in 2023?

There is no way to dismiss anxiety in the minds of Nigerians as we move towards the 2027, January 16 presidential elections. The reason is that we have not been able to get an election that satisfied the expectation of the Nigerians. So at every time, people will be very anxious that what they have been voting doesn’t seem to reflect the results. They are justified in being angry and INEC the way it is going, people have started doubting whether they will do the correct thing. I remember that three weeks ago, the INEC chairman said that AI was going to be deployed for the 2027 election and I said it was great danger. Artificial Intelligence has been used to create confusion particularly when it comes to issues of data management and cloning people using images that are not real, to convey certain narratives.

The INEC chairman must not use anything AI because it will fail. Just as I said, we have heard that the voters register has been corrupted with AI images, people who are non-existent have found their ways into the voters register. So it has become a challenge, and before we get into the election, INEC has to clean up the register to see that it removes all non-existent persons who have gotten registered through AI tools. Then, the election itself as we move towards it, Nigerians are not sure if votes will count, because it has to do with the body language of those who are managing the process. Issues like transmission of result in real time basis was not successfully defended in the National Assembly.

Now again, today a court has nullified the executive of ADC led by David Mark, what that means is that it has thrown up a new challenge as all actions taken by the David Mark executive is nullified and that gives rise to a new kind of tension that will erase public confidence in the democratic process. So talking about how NDC can raise the confidence of the people about the protection of their votes, I will say it is not just for NDC to do, but a collective responsibility. If Nigerians are truly not satisfied with what the present government has done, they should mobilize themselves and stand for change. We just saw it in America in their election. Their vote is the weapon for change and they should use it to get what they want. Those who have the power will not want to give up power, but the power of the people must prevail and get them out of power. In the case of NDC, we are working hard to build resistance for election manipulation by ensuring that we put agents in every polling units. We are going to have a minimum of three agents in every polling unit in the country. One presidential agent, one senatorial agent and one house of reps agent. So, in one polling unit, three agents will be there. That is what we will do across Nigeria because we know we have to first of all defend the sanctity of that box because we know that what you put in that box has to be counted and recorded the way they are.

I have concerns about the date of the election and the coincidence of Christmas, especially in Igboland where people will still be at home and attending festivities?

I can only say that special circumstances throw up special reactions and actions. This is the first time we are having election immediately after Christmas in Nigeria. If we truly want to make our votes count in the direction that we want it, people can shelve coming home for Christmas. Then those who can come for Christmas and be able to go back to where they reside can do so before the election, but where it is not possible, they can stay back and after the election, they can come back to do whatever they want to do. I think the election requires committed response. Christmas comes every 365 days, so there is no end to it, so we can make sacrifices to enable us stay put and be able to vote where we registered.

Peter Obi has been able to sustain his popularity from 2023 till date. As someone who is deep in the planning, do you think his chance now is as bright as it was then?

Peter has demystified all political projections. In 2023 he was not given any chance, and they left him at the bottom where they thought he belonged, but he came and won the election. Now, people were thinking that after four years down the line he would have been weakened, but everyday his resolve is getting stronger. He says that if Nigeria is not getting better, fighting for Nigeria to get better should not be abandoned. He wants a new Nigeria and believes that it is possible, and for it to happen, it has to come through a resilient effort. So Nigerians should look at how things have been under Tinubu and decide what they want. The decision to vote for a change should be made by the people. Nigerians are suffering, there is no money and you can’t find people who are smiling. That is why Peter Obi’s popularity is growing because the people see him as the man who is capable.

Look at how energetic he is. He has already done seven states in just days. He is someone that is bubbling with energy and has the drive. Some of us wonder how he gets the energy to move that way and he tells you he is encouraged by the confidence Nigerians have in him. If election is conducted today, he will clear all the votes. He is popular, has the energy, the experience needed and the most prudent person you can find. Peter Obi is a man that you can never associate with wastefulness and what Nigeria is suffering is waste of its resources. If Nigeria gets someone like Peter Obi who can husband its resources, you will see that things will get better. What he wears, what he eats are little things that are not different from what Nigerians have. He is not into ostentatious lifestyle. Nigeria needs a man like him who is cost conscious.

We learnt that the ruling APC government offered money to candidates to buy their support. Is this true, were you among?

It depends on what one is looking for in politics. I’m some one who has been offered money a lot to do things, and I always turn it down. For me, no one has approached me because they know I will not take. Where people have subscribed to membership of a political party and have been given nomination to stand for election for the party and they turn around to say they are putting pressure on you to collect money and throw away the nomination, such people should not even be listened to. I read a case in the north, I think in Bauchi that NDC governorship candidate has withdrawn because he has been paid off. I didn’t verify that claims because I know that in politics, many things can be said. They are political twists that people put in the social media. I can only say that our candidates are standing strong and we are all together and I don’t see any who has collected money and do not want to contest any longer.

Ifeanyi Ibezi, a big political figure in Anambra State, from your constituency recently joined NDC. How does that boost your chances as a senatorial candidate for the election?

This election is something we have gone through before. Despite the noise, our people know what they want, and here in Anambra Central Senatorial Zone, it has always been the hot bed of politics. During election you see people coming to throw money or others being foisted on the people, but I want to say that Peter Obi who is the presidential candidate of NDC is from this state and no matter how anyone wants to put him down, it will be very difficult for anyone to play down his popularity in Anambra. It is impossible, nobody can do that. I have seen in the media that APC and APGA were working together to beat Peter Obi in Anambra, but we are waiting for them at the polls. That calculation will not work. Our people can not leave Peter Obi to vote for anyone else. The choices will be easy to make, and this is the first time that some one from South East has such level of acceptance across Nigeria. Peter Obi is a sensation all over Nigeria. So it is not not our people that will put him down. If election is are held today, it is Peter Obi that will win again. You see he was in Cross River the other day and out of desperation, someone shot at his convoy, these are desperate moves to scare him and make him abandon the race, but you can’t stop him, just like you can’t stop the people from going to Peter Obi.

In the midst of the hardship that people are going through, this government is talking about extending their tenure in office, it can not happen. Peter is going to win again like he did in 2023. All opinion polls point to the fact that Nigerians want Peter Obi. Even the opinion polls conducted by the ruling party, they are always shocked with the result they get. This has shown that the voice of the people is the voice of God. As we keep going, I pray that Nigerians will see reason why Peter should be elected as the president of Nigeria in this coming election. Everything points to the need for him to be president.

Then talking about Ibezi, I led the discussion for him to come into NDC. We met a few times and he looked at it and believed that what we were saying was right. He cannot stay (in APGA) where he is not wanted. He is a grassroots politician and a young man with energy. Peter is focusing on young people and that Nigeria needs to create a vibrant youth population and put them to task. So Ibezi since he came in has been mobilizing relentlessly and it is becoming very clear to our opponents that there is a new kid on the bloc.

The election is not about me, but mostly about our presidential candidate. I have known him for 25 years, I know his attitude to money, I know the things he can do and the things he will never do, even with a gun pointed to his head. We want someone who can come and confront the huge problems we have in Nigeria. Some one who can remain level headed in the midst of plenty. He is a man who will justify every one kobo that he spends. That is why even with the level of work he did in Anambra, he still left N75billion behind. It is because of that fiscal discipline that people want him.

Governor Chukwuma Soludo has said that he and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who managed Nigeria’s economy previously have independently confirmed that Nigeria economy under Tinubu is doing good. What do you say to these remarks?

This is election time, so people will speak so glowingly of any positions they have taken. They say the taste of the pudding is in the eating. You can’t tell a blind man that there is salt in the food, he already knows. All these embellishments about the economy doing well, it is very hard to convince anyone that Nigeria is doing better today, because the cost of living has become unbearable. The citizens are groaning. It would have been a beautiful story if you said you are putting reforms and the economy is healthy and the people are feeling it and enjoying. The number of stroke patients will shock you if documented. People are dying everyday and they are not dying because things are good, they are dying because challenges are overwhelming them. He is a governor and he has the resources of the state at his disposal, so he doesn’t know what the ordinary people are going through. People are going through hardship, petrol is N1,410 and diesel is almost N2,000. How can these things be sustained this way and you say the economy is doing well? A positive reform puts costs low. If for example when the president removed subsidy and all the savings made from that subsidy removal they make policies that can help us have refined products in Nigeria, that would have been fair. If they had set up a refinery with all the money they have borrowed, over $100billion, they would have put up a brand new refinery in three years and the product would be available and you won’t have to continue importing.

The level where we are now, there is no hope that Petroleum products will come down any day because there is nothing put in place to guarantee it would. The government is just confused. The other time, they announced N30 reduction and it was sold only in nnpc filling stations and was for just 30 days. What impact did that policy make? It was not meant to solve any problem.