By Charles Maduka
The All Progressives Grand Alliance has dismissed a statement credited to the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Anambra State, Nicholas Ukachukwu, claiming President Bola Tinubu gave him a mandate to deliver the state to the APC.
Ukachukwu had made the statement during a reception in his honour at the Chinua Achebe Airport, Umueri, after returning from a visit to President Tinubu. He told supporters that the President asked him to “connect Anambra to the centre” and urged them to mobilise grassroots support for his campaign.
“We met with the President, and he said, ‘go and get me Anambra State.’ That is a mandate,” Ukachukwu said, while introducing his running mate, Senator Uche Ekwunife, at the event.
Reacting, the National Coordinator of the APGA Media Warriors Forum, Chinedu Obigwe, described Ukachukwu’s claim as false and misleading. He insisted that Ukachukwu was not authorised to speak for the President and lacked the capacity to achieve such a goal.
“Ukachukwu is not the President’s spokesman, and he has no authority to communicate any message on behalf of President Tinubu. That responsibility belongs to the President’s official media aides,” Obigwe said.
He dismissed the idea of delivering Anambra to the APC as “an impossible mission,” arguing that Ukachukwu would be defeated by the incumbent, Governor Chukwuma Soludo, in the November 8 election.
“Ukachukwu failed to win the Anambra South senatorial seat in 2023 against the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah. How then does he intend to deliver the entire state? Even if Tinubu gave him the task, it’s clearly beyond him,” Obigwe stated.
He further accused the APC candidate of eyeing the positions of presidential media aides, saying his public remarks appear to serve personal ambition rather than political reality.
Obigwe maintained that Soludo is firmly in control of the state and enjoys the support of both the people and the federal government.
“With Governor Soludo in charge, Anambra is already aligned with the centre. When the President visited the state, he approved all of Soludo’s requests, showing a strong working relationship. So what is Ukachukwu really trying to connect?” he asked.
He concluded that Soludo will retain his seat until the end of his second term in 2030, as the people of Anambra will resist any attempts at manipulation or rigging during the upcoming election.
“As far as the November 8 governorship election is concerned, there is no vacancy in Anambra. It is Soludo or nothing,” Obigwe said.
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