Transactional Politicians Betrayed Me – Val Ozigbo

He was governorship candidate of the PDP in the last election in Anambra state and today he has declared his intention to run at the 2025 gubernatorial election under the platform of Labor party. Mr Valentine Ozigbo spoke to some journalists including a staff of www.odogwublog.com on that and his score card of Soludo’s two years in office.

Question; You campaigned vigorously during the last governorship election what actually went wrong ?

Answer; You know that our primary election was keenly contested and after that election I won the primary election. However some of my co aspirants protested against the outcome of the primary and from that day I commenced the process of reconciliation and I met virtually all of them appealing to them that we should come together and work as a team and as a family.

The response were far reaching and heart worming and I took them for their words but I never knew that those reconciliatory meetings were mere meetings that will not produce any result.

As a matter of fact I let them into my campaign strategies and what I had in my war chest and I thought that we are on the verge of winning the said election given the response that they gave to me.

“Those I thought I was working with in PDP betrayed me . I used all the time I would have used for campaign trying to pacify those who lost in the primaries but instead they decided to gang up and betray me. All the time I used in trying to build a united PDP were wasted. I hope it will not repeat again.

As a first comer in politics there are a lot of lessions one must learn. I have learnt some. When I came in ,many of my fellow aspirants never trusted me. We saw the signs of the betrayal but we ignored them ,but this time, when we see any ,we will act immediately to minimize the betrayal level.

I will do my best to get discerning spirit,even if I want to make the mistake it will be minimal.

Their anger was that they did not win the primary election and that they lost and what they resorted to was to fight the party and it’s candidate and that is me .

Even some of those that were in my campaign organization were going about selling out and collecting money to work against my candidacy while I thought that we were together.

I won them when i was relatively new in politics and i win them again,this time at the general elections in the field. .

Question; Now you are in the Labour Party don’t you think that the allegation of Mr Peter Obi imposing you as candidate of the PDP would also come into play in Labor Party?

Answer; Well those who claimed that our Presidential candidate in the Labor Party influenced my emergence are making a huge mistake.

Yes Mr Peter Obi is one of the leaders of the PDP in Anambra state but he was neutral all the way and those making those allegations were closer to Peter Obi than me and they were deep in the party before I came to the party .

So they are the ones that should have had a stronger control over the party but I came and defeated them despite their boasts of being in charge of the party.

Now to the issue in the Labor Party; there is no point going to Mr Peter Obi for support because he is a democrat and believes in justice and fair play .

He is not the type of politician that is given to trying to manipulate the electoral process but he prefers to wait until a winner emerges and he would join the party to work for the candidate of the party.

So Peter would not influence the primary election of the Labour Party in Anambra state and even in any state in the country and those trying to manufacture this type of story are not prepared for the contest.

They should rather bust themselves with trying to get the ticket of the party and not to start early to blame people for their anticipated lose in the coming primary election.

Question; We still have others contesting for the ticket of the Labour Party from Anambra North Senatorial District?

Answer; I believe in the zoning and the agreement that this is the turn of Anambra South Senatorial District. So it is improper for someone from Anambra North to attempt to contest the election.

One said he has the capacity to win both the primary election and the main election proper but we shall take them as they come.

Remember that the immediate past governor of Anambra state Chief Willie Obiano is from Anambra North Senatorial District and he was there for eight years meaning two tenures .

That someone has been at the National Assembly both as former House of Representatives member and now a senator doesn’t mean that he would win the primary election.

I wish to appeal to those from Anambra North to respect the zoning arrangements that we have been respecting since Late Mbadinuju to Ngige and also Peter Obi and then Obiano .

Question; But if you become governor you still have the right by the constitution to contest for a second tenure even though Gov Charles Soludo is from Anambra South Senatorial District?

Answer; Yes you may say that but I am going for a single term of four years and no second tenure . Quite alright Soludo is from Anambra South Senatorial District just like me and what I am going to do is to be in office for only four years.

Come to think of it within four years a governor can achieve all that he wants to achieve and as a governor it would only take me four years to put Anambra state on song and I do not need a second term to achieve all that I have in my manifesto as governor.

Question; People have been praising Gov Charles Soludo for the Infrastructural development in the state in under two years what are your views?

Answer; We have gone into two years of Soludo’s government, some of you may be happy but I am not . Governance is not all about being an automatic leader.

You have to listen to people and know their problems. You have implements superior recommendations,you don’t because you can’t know all.

I had wanted to stay two years before speaking about the government of Soludo and now it is two years I want to hold Soludo accountable.

I want to tell you,even if you are Soludo’s brother and I want to assure you also that you will be happier if I am governor of Anambra State.

I would have approached governance differently and more effectively than what is happening if I had won the November 2021 gubernatorial election.

Governor Soludo has not performed optimally and has failed to connect with the people he governs. After two years, it is imperative for me, as a citizen, to hold him accountable.

I believe I can do better. We must not allow our aspirations to fade, especially after the events of the 2023 election. We must collectively strive to change the narrative.

Question; You were an insider during the Presidential election which Mr Peter Obi was part of , are you not disappointed about the outcome?

Answer; Nigerians know what happened and how it took place so asking about how I feel is like expecting the obvious but it should not stop us our Presidential candidate Mr Peter Obi from continuing in that drive to take back out country.

They may seem to have had their way but Nigerians know who won that election and it is as simple.

Nigerians spoke with one voice but certain elements come into play and that is to the peril of our country and it’s citizens.

Question; In the light of this do you still have confidence in the electoral process?

Answer; We have a constitution of our country and the Electoral Act and the process is well stipulated. All that we need is to follow the Constitution and do the needful.

Besides we have learnt our lessons and we have gotten more experience about how it works . So this time around we are not going to sit down and watch those enemies of our democratic process to deny our people their voice and what they want from governance.

The people would strive to ensure that such kind of thing do not play out again and the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC should see itself as a body that must be accountable to the people over their roles as an unbiased umpire that must work within the ambit of the law .