GUBERNATORIAL candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Chukwuma Soludo has said that the security situation in Anambra State was politically instigated to create anxiety in the people.
He said this during the Anambra Governorship Debate organised by Arise Television in Awka on Monday.
“Part of the recent upsurge in insecurity in Anambra is politically motivated by some people who think that they will gain political advantage by creating a sense of fear and insecurity so that you’ll have voter suppression,” he said.
Soludo blamed the rising spate of insecurity within the state on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), saying they had set a precedent of violence and kidnapping in previous governments.
“Insecurity in Anambra started with the PDP government and orchestrated by my brother on my right hand (Andy Uba) kidnapping a sitting governor. It was a PDP legacy in Anambra. The violence, kidnapping and so on in this state was started by PDP,” he said.
Speaking on the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), he encouraged leaders in the region to dialogue with the group and arrive at a lasting solution to the problem.
“I believe that in a democracy, you put everything on the table. The South-East leaders, religious, the traditional rulers all the youths are now working on the consensus that we need to dialogue on this to have a solution,” he said.
Also participating in the debate were the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Andy Uba and the PDP counterpart Valentine Ozigbo.
Uba and Ozoigbo also called for dialogue in resolving the security challenges in the state.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.
