Chris Uba’s men join Soludo
…As VP flags off campaign today
From Our reporter
Thursday, December 3, 2009


•Chief Chris Uba,
•Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Leaders of key rival political parties and camps including key supporters of both the self-proclaimed godfather of Anambra politics, Chief Chris Uba, and his estranged elder brother, Andy Uba, who was Anambra’s governor for 17 days in 2007 are expected to declare for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today as the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan leads a high-powered delegation to flag off the campaign for the election of Professor Chukwuma Soludo, as the Anambra State governor in the February 6, 2010 election.

The delegation will include all South Eeast PDP governors plus Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, members of the National Assembly, as well as key office holders in the party.
Scheduled to declare support for Soludo are all officers and members of the AC from the ward level to the local government level in the following nine local government areas: Njikoka, Awka South, Awka North, Ogbaru, Dunukofia, Orumba North, Orumba South, Anambra East, Oyi, and Anambra West.

All members of the AC in Aguata, Ogbaru, Dunukofia, Ayamelum and Anaocha will also declare for Soludo.
This is the third time Prof Soludo will be receiving defectors on a massive scale since his nomination as the PDP flag bearer in the first week of October. The first was in the last week of October when the Progressive Peoples Party (PPA) leadership in Anambra State, including 19 out of the 21local government area chairmen, joined the Soludo campaign at an elaborate ceremony at Government Technical College, Awka. The defectors were led by the PPA Vice National Chairman (South East), Chief Austine Ndigwe and the billionaire oil magnate, Prince Arthur Eze, who pledged over one billion naira to the campaign.

The party’s South East Zonal Headquarters was consequently donated to the Soludo campaign. The second time the PDP governorship candidate received massive defections was two Sundays ago when prominent AC members, including the state deputy chairman, vice chairmen, the financial secretary, as well as chairmen in various local government areas, joined the Soludo campaign at an impromptu ceremony in his hometown of Isuofia, Aguata Local Government Area.

Both Soludo’s running mate, Senator Emmanuel Anosike, and the Director General of the Soludo Campaign Organisation, Chief Agunwa Anaekwe, who was speaker of the House of Representatives in the Third Republic, were AC foundation members in Anambra State, with Chief Anaekwe serving as head of Dr Chris Ngige’s campaign in the botched 2007 gubernatorial election.

Chris Uba’s former associates include Prince Osita Ezenwa, secretary to the Aambra State Government under Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju, and Chief (Mrs) Obasi Oyinbo. Both were among the 47 aspirants who competed against Prof Soludo for the PDP ticket.
In addition, Chairmen of the PDP in 14 local government areas supporting Chief Uba, who will join Soludo include those of Ihiala, Nnewi North, Aguata and Nnewi South.

From Andy Uba’s are Chief Patrick Agu, Uba’s director of planning and strategy, who was the state chairman of both the PDP and the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Chief Dan Ogbuefi, a leading industrialist and Governor Peter Obi’s kinsman.
All defectors say they are encouraged to support the erstwhile CBN governor because of his stupendous accomplishments and vision to make Anambra State the African Dubai-Taiwan (ADT).

The campaign will flag off at 11am at the Holy Trinity Field, Onitsha, with Soludo launching his ADT development blueprint. Soludo says the choice of Onitsha for the unveiling of his development blueprint was informed by Onitsha’s status as the cradle of modern Igbo civilization, as the most cosmopolitan city in the South East and as the place he will initiate a massive urban renewal programme which will be extended to the other places officially designated as urban centres in the state.