Anambra Governor Charles Soludo tells the signs of how late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah formed an alliance with him before his death.
He revealed that Ubah privately acknowledged the difficulties of defeating him (Soludo) in the upcoming November 8 governoral election.
Soludo revealed this on Tuesday, while receiving dozens of defectors from the Ubah political camp.
Until his death in July 2024, Ubah, representing Anambra South in the Senate South, reportedly planned to compete against the governor under the All Progressive Conference (APC).
Soludo welcomes defectors to all the progressive major leagues (APGAs), and both he and Ubah have expressed real concerns about the welfare of Anambra.
The governor revealed that when he met Ubah in a certain duty, the deceased politician revealed that he was willing to support his governor’s bid.
He said:We welcome you with open arms and I want to tell you that in APGA we are all equal in terms of membership, not teenagers who mind you attending parties.
“My journey with Ifeanyi Ubah was personal and a long journey. Our relationship goes back to when I was Governor of CBN. He entered the APGA after running for governor on the Labor platform in 2013.
“In 2019, he competed for the governor’s APGA vote but he was disqualified. I want to apologize to him after his death and he will win the main APGA award in the landslide, but he was disqualified inappropriately.
“I suffered the same fate in 2013. The APGA came to me in 2012 and asked me to run for governor on their platform and I told them I would consider it.
“In 2013, I went to them and told them I was ready for the competition now, but they disqualified me. In 2010, the former CBN governor and PDP gubernatorial candidate was suddenly disqualified.
“But I think it’s forever.
“The same way, in 2019, Ubah was preparing to compete in Guber to pave the way for himself, and he left YPP. I know many of you who left him because of this incident, went to YPP.
“He used YPP and won the Senate Slide and became a Senate. We used to bring him drama ban, and he went back to APGA and he would always say it had to be organized.
“If Ubah was alive, maybe he was the guy who organized a large-scale rally for me like you are doing today.
“Let me tell you a story: We met at an event in this hall before Ifeanyi Ubah’s death and he sat next to me. I joked that I’ve seen his plans for competing for the governor, but we’ll humiliate him.
“He laughed and told me that he had spoken to his party leader (APC) and he knew it would be hard for him to delete me. He said he would tell Sir Emeka Offor to call a meeting between me and him; let’s see how he works for me.
“Emeka Offor confirmed to me that Ubah told him the same thing, but unfortunately he was dead before we met. That’s why I said that if he was alive, maybe he would work for me in the election.
“Even by naming his streets, we will make sure we immortalize him. But we will better find a monument named after him.”
