Anambra 2025: ADC Candidate Says Soludo’s Performance Can’t Earn Him Re-Election In Free Contest
Mr John Nwosu, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Nov. 8 governorship election, says Gov . Chukwuma cannot win a free and fair contest because he has not done will to earn a re-election.
Nwosu who spoke to journalists in Awka on Sunday said the election was an opportunity for Anambra people to decide whether they wanted change or to continue their suffering under Soludo’s leadership.
He condemned what he considered the monetisation of votes in the Aug. 16 by-election in Anambra saying that the outcome could not be a yardstick for measuring the likely outcome of Nov. 8 governorship election.
He said vote buying remained an electoral offense in Nigeria and blamed poverty and non adherence to electoral law by those who manage the process for the irregularities in the election .
He said while the by-elections were nationwide, the Nov. 8 election would focus on Anambra and that the ADC coalition was interested in the outcome of that election.
“Those who sell their votes for short-term relief will, in the longer term, pay for such myopic decisions.
“Soludo will run on his governance record, he will either be repudiated or affirmed by the Anambra electorate.
“From where I stand and what I know, Soludo does not have a pass mark yet for legitimate reelection, our people have suffered long enough, they need real change,” he said.
Nwosu said if elected, he would respect the principle of separation of power among the three arms of government while deploring the attempt by the executive to make the legislature a part of itself.
He cited the recent suspension of Mr Bernard Udemezue, a lawmaker representing Ayamelum in the Anambra House of Assembly by his colleague as one of the signs of the tendency towards unitary government at all levels.
Nwosu said he would address the absence of governance at the grassroots and enable them to develop their endowments in agriculture and natural resources for overall good.
According to him, no one takes the separation of powers between the three arms of government seriously anymore. Everywhere, the executive branch wants to pocket and subjugate the Legislature and Judiciary.
“Checks and balances are integral parts of democratic governance, when the leadership of a State Assembly censures one of its own, for speaking up on matters for which he was elected by his constituency, there’s a problem.
“There is vast security and developmental neglect at the community level and the negative consequences of the neglect on our oil and food producing areas are real and tangible
“We should be able to produce enough food locally to make the cost of food less prohibitive for the people
of our state,” he said.
