Former governorship candidate of the the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Val Ozigbo has said he will contest the 2025 gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
Ozigbo, who held an interactive meeting with journalists in Anambra on Saturday, said he waited to assess Governor Chukwuma Soludo after two years in office, before deciding whether he will run or not.
He said after two years, he is not impressed with Soludo’s achievements, saying that because of that, he has decided that he will run.
He said he will run for just one term in office to complete the zoning arrangement which favours the Southern Senatorial Zone where he and Soludo comes from.
He said: “We have seen the leadership of Soludo in two years and some of you may be impressed but I’m not. After the last election in 2021, I called and wished him well and moved on and we have never spoken again. My decision was to assess him after two years, and having seen it, I’m not impressed and I want to start holding him accountable.
“I’m here to share my thoughts with you, what I think and no matter how you see what he (Soludo) is doing, you will be more proud when I mount the saddle.
“We need to change the narrative and look for a way to survive. We must fight to rescue Anambra. I’m a non-transactional politician. I have several things I can do, but my worry is how we can recover the state and put her on the path of development.
“Zoning is a good thing. But it must be combined with competence to make sense. Don’t pick a renegade just because he is from a certain zone, and don’t pick the best, when you know you can pick one that is better.
“I respect zoning, and I will be making a case for a single term of four years. Anyone who sees what Alex Otti is doing in Abia will know that four years is enough time to do a lot of work.
“I will honour that principle of zoning, and I will not need anyone’s push or prompting to do otherwise. I will be ready to do an agreement and do an undertaking that I will do just one term. I also wish to tell you that Obi has been consistent that a southerner who emerges will only do one term.
“It is a settled matter that I intend to run for just one term. I intend to keep faith with the agreement.”
I’m not impressed with Soludo after two years – Ex-PDP candidate Ozigbo