Labour Party’s Peter Obi has broken his silence on Governor Soludo’s letter about his presidential ambition.
Obi, who was Anambra Governor between 2006 and 2014, reacted to Soludo’s comments that the investment Obi left in government is worth close to nothing.
The letter, which was released on Monday afternoon, literarily set the internet on fire.
In the 4008-word piece, Soludo dismissed Obi as a joker in the 2023 race, saying he would only deplete the votes of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and widen the chances of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Tracing the multiple defections of Obi from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to PDP and Labour Party, which he described as “transit camp” for aspirants who lost primaries, the governor said Obi himself knows that he cannot win.
The letter was titled, “History Beckons and I will not be Silent (Part 1)”
Reacting on Tuesday in Lagos, Obi described Soludo as his brother, and that he remains very prayerful for him.
“He (Soludo) remains my brother, we are very close. I remain prayerful for him. For other things which I didn’t succeed, God has given him opportunity to do it and succeed.
“So, if there is anything pending, governance doesn’t finish, people are still in government in America, so you stop where you will stop, other people will continue from there,” Obi said.
“He is the governor of the state; he is my senior brother, he is even more intelligent than me because he is a professor, I am a trader, so he knows more and will be able to do things better than I am doing it.
“I have done my little own as a trader, now the professor is there he will do his own as a professor, the schools I didn’t roof he will roof them, that’s how government goes.”
The former Governor said he left the office with the savings of 75 Billion Naira, adding that his administration saved 50 million dollars each in Access, Diamond and Fidelity banks with an interest rate of 6.5%.
He further clarifies: “The one they said is worthless, we invested 3.5 billion naira in International Breweries…that facility is there employing directly and indirectly over 10,000 Anambarians. The shares was at a time being sold at N50, today the shares is about N5 or so.
“When you spread your investment some will go up some will come down but overall the company is still there, the company is still doing well, it is still part of the global chain and everything. I needed to explain it not because I am defending comments by my brother.”
Obi further said he left the office without owing any contractor or supplier who had executed their job, citing the examples of Innoson Motors and Zinos Computers.
