By Lizzy Chirkpi
Foremost opposition leader, Chief Chekwas Okorie has urged Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to end what he described as a long-running political vendetta against former governor of the state, Peter Obi.
Okorie, in a statement issued on Thursday, October 1, 2026, accused Soludo of using his support for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections as a platform to attack Obi, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He said the alleged hostility between the two former Anambra governors dated back several years, identifying three political encounters which, according to him, may have shaped their relationship.
Okorie cited the 2009 Anambra governorship election, in which Soludo contested against the incumbent Obi on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He recalled that Obi won the election, while Soludo finished third.
According to Okorie, another point of contention arose in 2013 when Soludo joined the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and sought the party’s governorship ticket.
He alleged that the APGA leadership under its then National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, disqualified Soludo from participating in the party’s governorship primary.
Okorie claimed Soludo had since believed that Obi played a role in the circumstances surrounding his disqualification.
He also cited the 2023 senatorial contest involving Umeh as another source of alleged tension.
According to him, Soludo and the then APGA National Chairman, Victor Oye, worked against Umeh during the party’s senatorial primary for Anambra Central.
Umeh subsequently defected to the Labour Party (LP) and won the Anambra Central senatorial election, which Okorie said was aided by the momentum of Obi’s presidential campaign.
“These three ‘offenses’ are the real reasons Prof. Chukwuma Soludo swore to bring down Mr. Peter Obi by any means possible,” Okorie alleged.
He also recalled Soludo’s 2022 article, History Beckons and I Will Not Remain Silent, published ahead of the 2023 presidential election, in which the governor criticised Obi’s presidential ambition.
Okorie argued that Soludo’s support for Tinubu in the 2027 election should not be used as a vehicle for settling old political scores with Obi.
“There have never been any altruistic motives behind the public posturing of Gov. Soludo to support President Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election,” he alleged.
“He is hiding under the cover of the so-called support for Tinubu to unleash his personal vendetta on Mr. Peter Obi.”
The former APGA leader urged Soludo to focus on governing Anambra State, arguing that the governor had enough challenges to address without engaging in a political battle with his predecessor.
“As a professor of development economics, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Executive Governor of Anambra State, there are several issues challenging the people of Anambra State that are sufficient to keep Prof. Soludo busy,” he said.
Okorie also defended the political alliance between Obi and former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, describing the partnership as capable of contributing to national unity and reconciliation.
He said Obi and Kwankwaso had played significant roles in raising political consciousness among Nigerian youths and the wider population.
Okorie further praised the NDC, which he described as a political platform emerging from the Niger Delta region, saying its emergence could mark a new chapter in Nigeria’s political history.
He, however, did not provide independent evidence to substantiate his allegations about Soludo’s motives, presenting them as his interpretation of the political history between the two men.
Okorie ended his statement with a direct appeal to the Anambra governor: “Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, leave Mr. Peter Obi alone.”