AWKA — The governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Andy Uba; the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chukwuma Soludo, and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Valentine Ozigbo, have agreed on dialogue as a way to end the agitations in the South East being championed by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
The candidates spoke Monday during the Anambra governorship election debate organised by the Arise Television and title “Enough is Enough”.
Soludo said the IPOB deserved to be heard.
“I am on record speaking, I visited Nnamdi Kanu in 2016 in Kuje prison, with prominent people to ask for his release in line with a court order.
”Dialogue is the best solution to the IPOB issue,” he said.
Ozigbo, who said the detained IPOB leader was a product of leadership failure, called for dialogue and his release.
Uba, who expressed his belief in engagement, said the agitation was as a result of joblessness.
However, Prof Charles Soludo, candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, for the November governorship election in Anambra State, has accused politicians of being responsible for the ongoing security crisis in the State.
Soludo believes that politicians should be held responsible for the current crisis in the state, though many people mostly in government have maintained that members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, are responsible.
“Anambra had until the last few months remained about the safest state in Nigeria and the Governor had been decorated with several awards for keeping Anambra about the safest state in Nigeria.
“The insecurity in Anambra is a recent phenomenon. Very recently and I think my brother on the right-hand side (Andy Uba) when he responds might be able to tell a little more about part of the reason this is happening.
“But Anambra has remained largely, a safe haven: real estate booming, businesses booming, hospitality industry and so on and so forth.
“And recently, it is a challenge and the Governor as the Chief security has risen to the challenge. By the way, all the security agency as you know, are within the purview of the Federal Government but we’ve got a security architecture in which the federal forces have been working in tandem with the local vigilantes.
“Most of the recent upsurge of insecurity in Anambra is politically motivated.
“There are some people who think they gain political advantage by creating a sense of fear and insecurity so that they can suppress voters. When Valentine (PDP candidate) talked about intelligence gathering, that intelligence gathering is everywhere,” Soludo said.
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