Soludo denies that he has agreement with Atiku to take over from him after a single term

GOVERNOR Charles Soludo of Anambra State has denied rumours that that he is working against the ambition of the Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi because he has plans to take over from Atiku Abubakar if he gets elected president.

In late June, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) elected Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as its flagbearer for next year's presidential elections. However, his selection has created all sorts of problems for the PDP as Alhaji Abubakar is a Fulani Muslim as it outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari and his election would breach the gentleman's agreement on the rotation of Nigeria's presidency.

Although not constitutional, Nigeria's component parts have a gentleman's agreement that the presidency will rotate between the north and the south of the country. President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure will end in 2023 and being a Fulani northern Muslim, it is expected that the next president will come from southern Nigeria.

Since the return to democracy in 1999, the southwest has produced President Olusegun Obasanjo and the south-south President Goodluck Jonathan, so come 2023, the presidency should automatically go to the southeast geo-political zone. However, neither the PDP or the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has nominated Igbo presidential candidates.

One of the solutions put forward was for Alhaji Abubakar to stand down after a single four-year term for an Igbo candidate. It has been rumoured that Governor Soludo is one such candidate being touted as part of this plan and that as such, he is opposed to the candidacy of one of his predecessors in Anambra State Governor Obi.

However, Governor Soludo has denied this following reports that he ordered members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (Apga) in Anambra State to work against Governor Obi. Christian Aburime, Governor Soludo's spokesman, denied the allegations, saying there was no truth to them.

Mr Aburime said: “We would have chosen to ignore this mischievous and utterly despicable report but for the benefit of a few innocent Ndi Anambra who could be misinformed by the write-up. The following should, however, be noted  - Governor Chukwuma Soludo, only held a private meeting with his party members and this meeting is a routine gathering where issues concerning Apga are discussed.

“At no time during the meeting was Mr Peter Obi a point of discourse. It is pertinent to note that issues discussed at the meeting were purely issues relating to Apga affairs, so we therefore urge Ndi-Anambra and members of the general public to completely ignore and disregard the publication in all its entirety.”