By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, Mr Oseloka Obaze, has taken a swipe at the State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, for falling short of his promises of turning the state to a Dubai/Taiwan of Africa.

Obaze, who was addressing his political supporters in Awka over the weekend, expressed regret that the governor's promises were not actualized, rather the state have been taken backward.

Addressing his supporters under the auspices of Team OHO, the former United Nations Diplomat averred that Soludo had broken Anambra irretrievably, especially as it concerns security.

He said: “There is need to change Soludo next year when the state holds its governorship election.

“We thought 2014 to 2022 (Willie Obiano’s administration) was bad; but things have gotten worse since 2021. There is no solution in sight. Anambra was broken and needed to be fixed.

“Despite high promises of Dubai and Taiwan, Anambra has regressed in terms of security, quality of life and good governance. The present leadership despite all pretences is not living up to their promises; and must as such be voted out.”

Obaze, who is a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP) and popularly known as OHO. said the group will continue to support Peter Obi to ensure his presidential ambition is realised.

He added: "The most urgent task at hand is to change Soludo. The Anambra Governorship mandate for 2025 still belongs to Anambra South Senatorial zone. It is up to the South Senatorial Zone to find someone credible and a transformative leader to succeed the incumbent.

"For our part, TeamOHO will remain proactive and constructively engaged. We are bridge builders; we will provide the necessary building blocks. But our support will not go to the traditional politicians who make promises they cannot keep; but to someone who has vision, has created and managed wealth, can be trusted and is a team player.”

Obaze noted being from the Northern senatorial zone of the state, it automatically stops himself from contesting the governorship election of next year.

He however said that he won’t support anyone outside the southern zone, which is the favoured zone for the state’s zoning agreement.

Meanwhile, a guest at the event, Mr John Nwosu, a governorship aspirant under the umbrella of LP, solicited for support from the group to run on the platform of the party.

He described himself as the only one with the capacity to remove an incumbent.

Speaking at the event, a former state lawmaker, Ben Chuks Nwosu, who represented the aspirant, said: “Nwosu is the founder of Jetlink Group, and I assure you of his capacity to prosecute the project ahead.

"He is a man who is modelled after Peter Obi, and the only one that has the capacity to remove an incumbent."