Obi: I Won't Fight Soludo's Govt

Former Anambra State governor, and presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi has said that he would not engage in war of words with the current governor of the state, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.

Obi was reacting to controversy trailing shares he bought with Anambra State government funds with Sabmiller breweries, as part of his savings for the state, during his tenure.

There has been controversy over the true worth of the shares bought by Obi, with some supporters of Obi inflating the worth of the shares, to give Obi credit.

But in a statement, the Anambra State government clarified that the true worth of the shares depended on the current exchange rate of the dollars, while also saying that the shares were worth $3.7million or $5.7million in the parallel market, and this is far less the inflated worth.

But Obi while reacting to the development through his media aide, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, yesterday denied that the fake news on the inflated worth of the shares did not emanate from him.

He told Soludo to purge his mind of the perception that the Labour Party presidential candidate was fighting his government, stating that on the contrary, Obi was ready to work to ensure his success.

Obienyem while addressing Soludo urged him to differentiate between comments from supporters of Obi from those of Obi's media office, saying: "Anyone fighting Soludo at this early stage of his tenure is simply being inconsiderate and insensitive, I urge you to always sieve everyday reactions by people from the reaction from Mr. Obi’s official camp.

"Anybody supporting Obi that fights you is on his own. I say this with all sincerity, especially knowing the brief I personally received from Mr. Peter Obi on this. Obi is ready to offer any support that will redeem our state and set it on the path of progress again."

The statement added: "When the news of the multiplication of Obi’s investment in SABMiller was published, I knew it did not come from you. I personally made it clear that it was not circulated by Obi’s Media, but probably by one of the youths, not under our control, but eager to throw in anything that glorified their hero – Obi."

Speaking about the recent clarification on the true worth of the shares, Obienyem said: "I read the recent rebuttal by your Commissioner on the subject, what do I say about it? I only want to assure you that the Obi’s camp is supporting you. We want you to succeed and cannot be part of any plot against you.

"Some people are angry because we have chosen to identify with you; it is about time they realised that our only interest is recovering the eight years of retrogression."