I spent too much time pacifying betrayers during Anambra 2021 gov polls- Ozigbo

A former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra State, Mr Valentine Ozigbo, speaks of plans to recontest the governorship election in 2025 under the Labour Party platform. In this interview with Cajetan Mmuta, the LP chieftain x-rays the activities of Governor Charles Soludo and the political intrigues that played out in the state during the 2023 general elections, among other sundry issues

The credibility of the 2023 presidential election, in which your kinsman, Mr Peter Obi, was the candidate of the LP, is still an issue of debate, what’s your assessment of the exercise?

Nigerians knew what happened and how it took place, so asking about how I feel is like expecting the obvious, but it should not stop us nor our presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, from continuing in the drive to take back our 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 its citizens.

Do you still have confidence in the electoral process?

We have the 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 deny our people their voice and what they want from governance. The people will strive to ensure that such kind of thing does 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.

At the state level, you campaigned vigorously during the last governorship election in 2021, what went wrong?

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 responses were far-reaching and heartwarming and I took them for their words, but I never knew that those reconciliatory meetings were mere meetings that would not produce any result. I let them into my campaign strategies and what I had in my war chest and I thought that we were 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 campaigning trying to pacify those who lost in the primaries, but instead, they decided to gang up to betray me. All the time I used in trying to build a united PDP was wasted. I hope it will not happen again. As a firstcomer in politics, there are lots of lessons 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 minimise the betrayal levels. I will do my best to get a discerning spirit, even if I want to make a 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 its candidate and that was me. Even some of those who were in my campaign organisation was 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 won them again, this time at the general elections in the field.

Now that you are in the LP, don’t you think the same scenario will come into play in the 2025 governorship election, considering your relationship with Obi?

Well, those who claimed that our presidential candidate in the LP 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 Obi than I and they were deep in the party before I came on board. 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 LP, 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, Obi would not influence the primary election of the LP 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 boost themselves by trying to get the ticket of the party and not start early to blame people for their anticipated loss in the coming primary elections.

In the 2025 governorship election, you are likely to face other contestants from the Anambra North Senatorial district slogging it out with you under the LP platform, how do you hope to handle this?

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.

But already, one of the aspirants has said he can 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 the state, Chief Willie Obiano, is from Anambra North Senatorial district and he was there for eight years, meaning two tenures. That someone had been at the National Assembly both as a 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 Senator Chris Ngige and also Obi and then Obiano.

If you become governor, you have the right by the Constitution to contest for a second term even though Governor Charles Soludo is from Anambra South Senatorial district, how can you defend this?

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 will 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.

But Governor Soludo has been getting a lot of accolades lately for his good works, what are your views on this?

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 to implement 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. 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.