Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has said he and former governor Peter Obi remain close friends despite their political differences and recent public disagreements.

Soludo made this known during an interview with BBC News Igbo on Monday, where he addressed the tension between his administration and Obi over political matters and the state’s finances.

The governor said their relationship extended beyond politics, adding that both families maintained close ties.

“Peter Obi and I are good friends. Our two families are on good terms,” he said.

He further explained that their political interests did not affect their personal relationship, noting that they had maintained family ties over the years.

“His wife gave birth to my child in the divine water, my wife gave birth to his child in the confirmation. But when it comes to politics, give me mine, give him his. It’s politics that is being done,” Soludo said.

The governor also addressed Obi’s decision to support another candidate during the last Anambra governorship election, saying it did not affect their relationship.

“He has someone he thinks should be the governor of Anambra. I am also listening. He supported the person he wanted. But I won by the grace of God,” he said.

Obi governed Anambra State for two interrupted terms between March 2006 and March 2014 under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

He later contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party, finishing third behind Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.

Soludo disclosed that he personally invited Obi to join APGA in March 2022 to pursue his presidential ambition.

“It was me myself who invited him to APGA so he could run, early March 2022 at Nnamdi Azikiwe University,” he said.

According to the governor, his initial support for Obi was based on the need to mobilise the Igbo people politically rather than simply pursuing an electoral victory.

He said political alliances required prior consultations and strategic planning, stressing that winning power in Nigeria involved more than bringing opposition groups together.

Soludo also revisited his November 2022 article titled History Beckons and I Will Not Be Silent, in which he questioned Obi’s chances of winning the 2023 presidential election.

The governor explained that he believed Obi’s candidacy as a third-force contender would weaken the PDP’s electoral chances and improve Tinubu’s prospects.

“In fact, I also wrote to him that his participation would take away a lot of votes from the PDP and make it easier for Tinubu to win,” he said.

Soludo added that Nigeria’s political situation had since changed, but maintained that opposition unity alone might not be enough to defeat an incumbent government.

“Even if you have a united opposition, it still does not guarantee you get to defeat an incumbent. But that is even the starting point,” he said.

The governor’s comments come amid a dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over debts allegedly inherited from previous administrations.

The controversy intensified on September 14 when the state Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, said the government was still servicing loans obtained by previous administrations, including those of Obi and Willie Obiano.

Obi rejected the claim, insisting that he left office without outstanding debts. He said his administration did not owe salaries, pensions or contractors and left N2.1 billion in the state’s ecological fund.

However, the state government subsequently disputed his account, claiming that Obi left a debt of $123.77 million when his tenure ended.

Amid the disagreement, Obi had said there was no personal rift between him and Soludo, explaining that he and his wife were godparents to the governor’s children.

Soludo’s wife, Nonye, later responded through her media aide, Daniel Ezeigwe, suggesting that Obi might have misspoken. (The Sun)