By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Mr Valentine Ozigbo has expressed confidence that he will defeat incumbent governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, in the forthcoming Anambra governorship election if the court replaces him with Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu as governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ozigbo contested for the ticket to fly APC’s flag during the November 8, 2025 governorship election but lost to Ukachukwu. He however dragged Ukachukwu to court after the party’s primary, claiming that he won the election to fly the party’s flag, not otherwise.

The governorship aspirant has vowed not to relent in pursuing his mandate, saying that even if the court rules in his favour just two weeks to the November 8 election, he would floor the incumbent governor in the contest.

Ozigbo, who spoke to former Managing Director of Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), Uche Nworah, at Lagos airport, said: “We’re in court to challenge the candidacy of Nicholas Ukachukwu. We have been in the high court and appeal court.

“People tell me there is no time any longer that even if I remove him I may not have time anymore to campaign and win, but I tell them that even if it is just two weeks or one month, we will go ahead to win the election.

“The good news is that people are eagerly expecting me to come and fix Anambra, and the the bad news now is that Soludo is going about the election as if he does not have any challengers, because he knows he does not.

“People want to hear what I am going to do differently in insecurity, infrastructure, education, healthcare, but I always tell people do look forward to first ask who is this person? People can pay consultants to write manifestos for them; that I will do this, I will do that, but can they be trusted? What is their level of emotional intelligence?

I’m an investor, and I know that if you invest in the wrong person you are finished. Soludo told us about building African Dubai Taiwan. Where is it today. The true question is who is Soludo? He should not have been entrusted with power in the first place.

“I am better prepared than him because at least I agree that I do not know certain things, I know my weaknesses and my positive sides.”

Responding to whether he will support Ukachukwu if he losesin court, he said: “If the party makes a mistake, I will leave the party in their mistake, that doesn’t mean I will leave the party.

“There is life beyond just the coming election. Some people already condemned me for joining APCs and they thought leaving Labour Party was suicidal, but in the fullness of time, they found out that was the best decision of my life.”