By PAMELA EBOH

Former Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has said that despite not being listed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he was sure of taking part in the governorship contest in Anambra State.

INEC had on Friday excluded Soludo from the list of qualified candidates, publishing Hon. Chuma Umeoji as the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), citing a court order.

But Soludo reacting to his exclusion said he will not only contest the election but will win overwhelmingly.

He spoke through a press statement by his team, Soludo Campaign Organisation and signed by Soludo’s media aide, Joe Anatune, urging supporters not to be despair over the exclusion of his name on the INEC list, but to have faith.

Part of the statement reads: “Our millions of supporters in Anambra State and elsewhere in the world are advised not to be dispirited by the publication. Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo will participate in the governorship election as the APGA candidate.

“His nomination was strictly in line with the Electoral Law and INEC guidelines. INEC observed the APGA Congress on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, where he was nominated after winning 93.4 per cent of the valid votes cast in a free, fair and transparent manner which was broadcast live on national television networks as part of deepening the democratic process in Nigeria.

“Our team of dedicated and competent legal experts have studied the judgment and are confident of overturning it effortlessly. The party is at liberty to nominate the rightful candidate so long as due process is followed. Soludo’s nomination followed due process religiously.”

Soludo said there was no need for Anambra people and all lovers of progress in Nigeria to be worried about the judgment as it will be set aside the way others by Mr Justice Stanley Nnaji of the Enugu State High Court and Mr Justice Egbo Egbo of the Federal High Court in Abuja were thrown out.

He further said: “Millions of Ndi Anambra are understandably shocked that there are still desperate politicians in the state who want to reenact the years which the locusts consumed. They are determined to go to any and every length to acquire power for its own sake.

“We thought that the state had passed the stage where some of its politicians were moving from one end of the country to the other in the dead of the night in search of judicial orders to impose themselves on the people as their rulers, not leaders.

“Our supporters and indeed all Anambra people, who have been waiting patiently for Soludo’s leadership of the state, are advised not to be deterred by the Jigawa State Court order. They should rather remain supremely confident of not only Soludo’s participation in the November 6 gubernatorial vote but also his triumph in the polls with a big margin which will lead to a new era in our state for the benefit of all.”