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Ahead of the November 6th governorship elections in Anambra State, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has set a target of one million votes to clinch victory.
According to him, candidates of other political parties in the race were not his match.
Soludo said he was confident that he would win the election, adding that his target was to meet the one million votes mark.
The former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was speaking to his supporters during the flag-off of the campaign of his party, APGA at the Dr Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka on Saturday.
Soludo said: ‘I thank APGA for the ticket it gave me on June 23, and the over 50 support groups who for years continued to clamour for me to aspire for the governorship position.
‘They have been demanding for me to come and run, some of them are people across party lines, and some who are not even politicians have been calling me and saying that after the tenure of Governor Willie Obiano, the best thing that can happen to Anambra is for me to come and continue. Anambra people want APGA to continue.
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‘We will compete and contest for every vote and we will not take your votes for granted. Our target is to reach the one million-vote mark. There are people who know that even if they carry a gun, Anambra people will not vote for them. They are carrying money around and buying expired politicians.
‘Anambra is APGA, and APGA is Anambra. Anambra is not Imo. They say they want to connect us to the centre, and it is idiocy for them to talk about going to the centre because I’m already in the centre. I serve in this government (federal), so when they talk about going to centre, they are talking about coming to meet us. I’m already at the centre and I go in and out of Aso Rock, so when they talk about going to the centre, they are coming to meet me, because I’m there already.’
Soludo said he had promised that on the day of the flag-off his campaign, he would present his manifesto to the people.
There had been rumours that Soludo had no manifesto for the state, except to rely on the support of the incumbent governor and continue from where he stopped, but countering it, the Professor of Economics presented a published manifesto to the people.
‘I told Anambra people that on the day of the flag-off, we will unveil and launch the Anambra manifesto. This manifesto is one that envisions Anambra as a five-star destination to live, work and relax in. We want Anambra to be liveable. My manifesto with Ndi Anambra is my contract with them.
‘I’m not going to learn on the job. I will hit the ground running. We will build a land where no child born here will go out to look for a better future in Lagos or Abuja.
‘After this speech, my manifesto will be shared and uploaded online, and this is my contract with you. I have looked at the people contesting, and with every sense of humility, I don’t think they are can match me.
‘They can be governor because they are qualified and the constitution says if you have a school certificate, you can be governor, but for those who forged their certificates, I do not think they can be governor.
‘We are not making empty promises, the things we have here (manifesto) have been thought over by me and they are achievable, not the people who contracted people to concoct something that looks like manifesto for them,’ Soludo said.
Governor Willie Obiano, who was also at the campaign flag-off, stated that he had no fear that APGA would retain Anambra State, insisting that the party has led Anambra to enviable heights.
‘Anambra is an APGA state and we are not contesting it with anyone. We have in 15 and half years delivered the dividends of democracy here, and especially in the last seven and half years, under my watch.
‘A lot has been said about my achievements, but let me just talk about the airport, which was built within 15 months, and which is the best airport around. There is the international conference center and the international stadium, being built by a FIFA rated contractor.
‘We will launch football clubs; Anambra Bombers and Anambra Babes soon, so that we can begin to compete in sports.’
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