By Ikenna Agu

The great philosopher Peter Drucker once said “Management is doing things right while leadership is doing the right things”. This is a big question that remains unanswered in Anambra state long before now. It remained unanswered not because the state lacked capable brains to deliver the accurate answer but the naysayers who control the machineries of information flow in the state deliberately decided to distort the answer.

Come November 6th, eligible voters in Anambra state will throng various polling units in the state to elect a successor to the incumbent Governor Willie Obiano. And as expected, both the contenders and pretenders to the prime position are already jostling to convince voters on why they are the best candidates. Like in the past, the battle had always been between the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but with the recurrent internal crisis rocking APGA and the below average performance by the incumbent governor, who incidentally is from APGA, have suddenly made the election a one-horse race.

With the emergence of both Valentine Chineto Ozigbo and Charles Chukwuma Soludo as candidates of frontline parties; Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressive Grand Alliance respectively, the pendulum is clearly swinging towards PDP. To get to this stage, Valentine Ozigbo braved the odds by coming tops in the keenly contested primaries conducted on the 26th of June, 2021 in Awka, the state capital.

There were three void votes out of the 197 delegates comprising mainly of statutory delegates, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, the former Managing Director of Transcorp PLC won the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the November 6 Anambra State governorship election.

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Ozigbo polled 62 votes to defeat other aspirants. Votes of other aspirants were Obiora Okonkwo -58, Senator Uche Ekwunife -44, Winston Use – 12, Chris Azubogu -10, Godwin Maduka -5 and Genevieve Ekwochi -3. Others are Walter Okeke – 2 and Chidi Onyemelukwe – 2. In All Progressive Grand Alliance, out of the 795 accredited delegates, 792 votes were cast; Charles Soludo secured 740 votes to defeat three others namely Okwudili Ezenwankwo, Sir Damian Okolo and Thankgod Ibe who got 14 votes, seven votes and four votes respectively.

Few hours after the major parties’ primaries were concluded, political pundits in their ingenuity have looked into their crystal balls and came out with predictions cum facts that placed Valentine Ozigbo ahead of Chukwuma Soludo in the final lap of the gubernatorial race. Soludo who they described as being too elitist possesses little or no credentials of overseeing a complex and sophisticated state like Anambra as strongest part of his resume projects his period as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); an agency that controls the monetary policy of the country. Upon leaving the CBN, he became a regular visitor to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The anti graft body was investigating him on some alleged under hand play in the award of contracts during his tenure as the head of the apex bank. This has already cast a serious doubt if Ndi Anambra would trust their state in his care.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Valentine Ozigbo who from onset endeared himself to the electorates in the state by coming out clean especially in his track records. Contrary to the obstacles his closest rival is facing in the race, all odds are clearly in his favour. He has an intimidating pedigree in terms of leadership, business and corporate world. He is a grassroot politician and employer of labour. His philanthropic gestures has earned him awards and honours both locally and internationally. He has been described by political pundits as a man whose presence dotted every political and economic space in Anambra state. The level of acceptance he has garnered so far is unprecedented in the political history of the state. Even his detractors find it difficult convincing prospective voters against him.

Investigation has shown that long before Valentine Chineto Ozigbo had the intention of joining politics, he had been a humanitarian, philanthropist, strong party man and an employer of labour. It’s on record that every ward in Anambra state has felt the impact of his philanthropy; all party offices in local government headquarters in the state have touches of his support.

During the COVID-19 lockdown in the state, Valentine Chineto Ozigbo was on the lips of every Anambrarian. He donated palliatives (rice, sanitizer, mask, cash, distributed of Wrappers and Vegetable Oil and Cartons of Tomatoes etc) to all the 21 Local Government Areas and 326 wards in the state. There is no doubt that Anambra state is economically viable with less than 20% poverty rate, but this didn’t deter him from doing what he knows how to do best, which is to give back to the society that had given him so much.

Valentine Ozigbo has been a loyal party man. He remains among few who had stayed with the party in thick and thin. He has never left the party before. As a grassroot politician, he has constantly promoted the party in his ward, local government and state. No wonder the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja has constantly recognized him as a stalwart of the party, not just in the state but at national level.

The intimidating track record of Valentine Ozigbo is a great source of worry to all the contestants in the state. His volunteers are increasing in numbers and his message is well understood and received by the people. This has gotten to feverish level that it’s rumoured that both All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and All Progressives Congress (APC) are planning to produce a candidate for the election in order to match the soaring profile of Valentine Chineto Ozigbo.

Significantly, Anambra state is strategically positioned as a gateway to many states in the South East and South South part of the country. The business and other economic potentials in the state remain untapped. These inform why Anambra youths who make up to 60% of the state’s population are queuing behind him, to take up the mantle of leadership in order to unlock the hibernating economic potentials that were held-up by the current Willie Obiano led administration in the state.

To ensure that records are put straight, it is pertinent to state that Valentine Chineto Ozigbo for the past seven and half years has constantly expressed concern on the manner the affairs of the state are handled. As a concerned citizen of the state he decided that he wouldn’t stand by the side and watch his beloved state go the way of a failed state. It is also on record that he didn’t just jumped into the fray; rather he consulted widely with the party stakeholders and elders of the state, who bought into his ideas of changing the history of the state from what it used to be to economic hub of Southern Nigeria.

Peoples Democratic Party, no doubt, took the best decision by handing its ticket to a political giant who has a clear vision of how to change the trajectory of bad leadership in the state to a more economically and politically viable state.