Valentine Ozigbo: Bringing Tinubu to inaugurate overhyped projects won’t mask Soludo’s failure

Valentine Ozigbo, an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship hopeful in Anambra, says President Bola Tinubu’s visit to inaugurate projects in the state cannot “mask” Chukwuma Soludo’s “poor performance” in the state.

Tinubu on Thursday visited Anambra to inaugurate several major projects executed by the administration of Soludo, the governor of the state.

In a statement issued by the businessman, Ozigbo said the event felt like a “film trick” designed to distract the public from mounting socio-economic challenges in the state.

Ozigbo described Soludo’s administration as a “glaring theatre of missed priorities, misplaced ambitions, and media optics masquerading as progress.”

“Governance is not a film trick. Governance is not about cutting ribbons on facades while the foundation rots,” the statement reads.

“In over three years in office, Governor Soludo has delivered zero public housing, zero real investment inflow, and zero structural transformation of our economy.

“Instead of addressing the escalating cost of living, the housing crisis in Awka, the crumbling infrastructure across LGAs, or the deepening insecurity that has made daily life a gamble, the governor has chosen to showcase an amusement park.

“This facility should rightly have been left to private investors in a healthy economic climate.”

According to Ozigbo, most residents — including civil servants — cannot afford to live in Awka, where rent for a two-bedroom flat averages N1.3 million per year.

He said the state government has turned its back on core issues such as high cost of living, poor transport, patchy social services, and deepening insecurity.

“Instead of solving hunger, unemployment or fear, Soludo is building an amusement park,” he said.

Ozigbo also alleged that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) members were instructed not to wear party-branded clothes to the event, calling it a move rooted in political cowardice.

“Dear Gov. Soludo, let me say this, directly and without apology: Bringing the President to commission a handful of overhyped projects does not mask your failure,” he said.

“It doesn’t put food on the table. It doesn’t create jobs. And it certainly doesn’t fool Ndi Anambra.”

The governorship hopeful added that Anambra needs a leadership that puts people first and prioritises impact over media spectacle.