The Anambra State Caucus of the House of Representatives has denied that it endorsed Governor Charles Soludo for re-election in 2025.
It said this in a statement signed by the leader of the caucus, Hon. Afam Ogene, on Sunday, June 30, 2024, titled, ”Re: Anambra State Caucus, House of Representatives, Endorses Gov. Soludo – A Rebuttal.”.
Ogene said though the caucus paid the governor a visit on Friday, June 28, party and personal aspirations were not on the agenda as focus was on ”the multifarious development and security challenges that confront our people.”
The statement read, ”Our attention has been drawn to wild rumours, circulating across several WhatsApp platforms, to the effect that the Ogene-led Anambra State caucus of the 10th House of Representatives has endorsed Governor Chukwuma Soludo for a second tenure in office.
”Although the Caucus, made up of nine, out of its 11 members, paid Governor Soludo a courtesy visit on Friday, June 28, 2024, at the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia, our deliberations centred, primarily, on forging a development synergy for the overall interest of our state.
”Indeed, at no time during the almost five-hour chit-chat – during which both sides dissected the multifarious development and security challenges that confront our people – everyone was allowed to freely make contributions, in a free, no-holds barred manner.
”As a matter of fact, Governor Soludo himself aptly captured the essence of our visit, when he wrote on his X handle thus, ‘Yesterday, I had the honor of welcoming the Anambra State Caucus of the Federal House of Representatives to the Governor’s Lodge in Amawbia. It was a pivotal step towards fortifying our collaboration in infrastructural partnership and development.
‘Our discussions were marked by a shared commitment to transcend party affiliations and work together harmoniously to champion initiatives at the national level that will significantly benefit Ndi Anambra,’ Governor Soludo wrote.
”We wish to add that personal, or party aspirations, never featured in our exchanges during the visit. We, therefore, had no cause to endorse anyone.
”As we begin this new chapter of development-centric collaboration between the Executive and Legislative arms, we urge meddlesome interlopers not to truncate this laudable gesture, in the guise of projecting narrow partisan considerations.”