Soludo funding Ukachukwu to destabilise APC, Valentine Ozigbo alleges

Valentine Ozigbo, an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship hopeful in Anambra, says Chukwuma Soludo, governor of the state, is funding Nicholas Ukachukwu to destabilise his party.

On April 5, Ukachukwu clinched the APC’s gubernatorial ticket at the party’s primary election, with 1,455 votes.

Ozigbo secured 67 votes, while Edozie Madu and Johnbosco Onunkwo, received 8 and 26 votes respectively.

Speaking on ‘Politics Today’, a Channels TV programme, Ozigbo, who contested for the governorship election on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform in 2021, challenged all parties to swear with the Bible.

“Soludo is funding Nicholas (Ukachukwu) to weaken APC and the only way we can prove this is invite all of us here and bring Bible to swear,” he said.

“Unfortunately, when you have certain intelligence, am I going to give you the source? Who is Nicholas Ukachukwu?

“How come he has never won anything since after he became house of rep member in Abuja here? How come every single election he shows up? How come?”

Ozigbo said he defeated Soludo in the last election, adding that the governor is scared of facing him again.

“I defeated Soludo, I repeat this again on national TV. He knows why he’s scared of me becoming a candidate, but I was rigged out,” he said.

“I have it on good authority about what happened long after it happened. But I called Governor Soludo the same day and I said congratulations.

“I moved on. I didn’t go to tribunal, I didn’t go to court to challenge him. I moved on.

“In this case, the wrong is so severe that I’m asking myself to allow this impunity to continue? No, I am going to engage further with the party.”

Ozigbo said several polls have been conducted with him defeating Soludo and the late Ifeanyi Ubah.

“There have been polls, people have gone up there to say, ‘Soludo, Val and Ifeanyi Ubah of blessed memory. Who would you wish to win Anambra 2025?’ 93% voted me. Online poll,” he said.

“Even if you allow 20% margin of error. Nobody in the history of Anambra politics has got this kind of momentum.”

‘LEAVE ME OUT OF APC POLITICS’

Christian Aburime, chief press secretary to Soludo, described the allegation as a figment of Ozigbo’s imagination.

“That is laughable. It is a figment of Ozigbo’s imagination. Ozigbo should face Ukachukwu and leave Soludo out of their problems,” Aburime told TheCable on Saturday.

“The governor is a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and has nothing to do with the APC. He is focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to the people. Ozigbo should leave him out of APC politics.”

Ozigbo has since filed a lawsuit against the APC at the federal high court in Awka, the Anambra state capital, over the outcome of the primary election.

The suit, which names the APC, Ukachukwu, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants, seeks to nullify Ukachukwu’s nomination and compel the party to recognise Ozigbo as the rightful candidate.