The founder and Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Professor Obiora Okonkwo, has declared his readiness to rescue Anambra State from Governor Chukwuma Soludo in the 2025 governorship election. Okonkwo made this known on Wednesday in Abuja when the Anambra Coalition for Progressive Change presented him the governorship form they purchased for him.
He said the journey to rescue the state from Soludo should transcend party lines.
Okonkwo stated, “I would ordinarily say I do not expect this, but knowing that I am not in this race alone, knowing that I still have a whole lot of Anambrarian friends, all that still believe in me, there are still other people who already made up their mind that whatever is going on in Anambra State today is not the way to go.
“The issue of security, the issue of almost zero economic activities that these people will never let me go on this journey by myself.”
He explained, “In all my interviews, I had mentioned that this journey of coalition is not a journey of one political party. We will not do justice to this struggle to rescue Anambra State from an incumbent governor. I am calling on all those who are not happy with what is going on in Anambra State to emulate this direction. For those who have not joined this coalition, this is a wake-up call.”
Okonkwo stressed that he was prepared to battle many people for the ticket and to rescue the state form Soludo.
He added that if he won the governorship ticket of his party, All Progressives Congress (APC), “we will give a landslide victory to APC.”
Okonkwo said he was aware of the subterranean moves of the governor in Abuja to try to prevent him from getting the ticket of the party.
According to him, “We are aware of all the moves being made in Abuja here. Huge amounts of money are being thrown around just to ensure that my humble self does not get the ticket of the party because he’s very much afraid, not only to meet me on campaign, talk-less of squaring up with me on the election day.”
Earlier, Anambra Coalition for Progressive Change said Soludo established the Agunechemba Security Corps as a strategy to win the 2025 governorship election. The leader of the coalition, Chief Cyril Ezeani, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja after purchasing expression and nomination forms for Okonkwo.
Ezeani wondered why Soludo had to wait at the twilight of his tenure to establish a security outfit despite the high level of insecurity in the state.
He said, “Pick up the newspapers, you listen to the news, you go to social media, what you see about Anambra is kidnapping, killing and all sorts of insecurity.
“And you know, the average Anambra man is a hard-working person. We built our roads, we provided our water, we built our schools. So, what do we need? We simply need security, security for our businesses to flourish, for people to come from far and near to buy in Onitsha and wherever. That is the primary thing that every Anambra State person needs, and that is not being provided.
“In fact, it was just a few days ago that he woke up from his slumber and started Agunechemba and all that. And I know it was just because he realised that the election is coming up.”
Ezeani added, “He’s just trying to confuse the people of the state. As soon as he gets his ticket back, or wins the election by any means, he will go back to where he is and leave us stranded.
“So that is the principal thing that made us believe that he’s not going to do anything. He’s not the kind of person we want; he is not providing the kind of services that we want in Anambra State.”
Ezeani said the coalition had to persuade Okonkwo because he had the track record and pedigree to rescue the state from Soludo.
“He’s a self-made man. He has made his money more than 30 years ago. He is an employer of labour. That is why we had to persuade him that he needs to rescue our state,” he added.
