Soludo claims Obi stopped LP campaign in Anambra as governor

The Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, claimed on Thursday the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, denied the party the opportunity to campaign freely during his tenure as governor of the state.

The governor’s remark came a few days after the Anambra Signage and Advertising Agency (ANSAA) pulled down the LP’s campaign billboards in the state.

The party in a statement issued a few hours later accused Soludo of ordering the dismantling of the billboards.

The governor had last year dismissed Obi’s chances in the February 25 election.

Speaking on a Channels Television programme, Politics Today, Soludo said he had twice granted Obi the opportunity to use government properties in the state for his campaigns.

He stressed that the former governor denied the LP the opportunity to use a venue for a campaign during his tenure.

Obi ruled Anambra State from 2006 to 2014.

Soludo said: “It does not worth my time to comment on the rantings of some people — about their billboards or no billboards and so on.

“I don’t want to be drawn into that. I think that has been exhaustively dealt with by the government and the Anambra State signage agency that regulates this.

“The point that was repeated is that the signage agency had commended me for being the most tolerant governor as it regards free and fair electoral practice.

READ ALSO: Soludo denies receiving $28m to blackmail Peter Obi

“It is on record and everybody knows that I have twice granted the presidential candidate of the Labour Party to use government properties — government house — for his campaign without charging him a penny.

“Nobody has done that. He did not do that when he was in government. He did not even allow Labour Party, where he is now, to freely campaign in Anambra. He denied them even the venue that they paid for.

“But I have allowed him to use the government house twice free of charge. They were in Onitsha to go and campaign. They have their billboards all over the place but the point is when you fail to play by the rules, you put up billboards and you don’t pay for the relevant things. Of course, the signage agency will come after you.

“Even yesterday, I heard a complaint that they pulled down even the billboard of an APGA candidate for a federal house. He has not paid and they pulled it down. This is the state’s rule of law.

“Even when they said their billboards were pulled down, you go all over the state, the billboards are lining up everywhere, where they have met the terms and conditions for that.

“They want some kind of entitlement. We can’t continue to give them everything for free. PDP, APC, and others are not complaining. Why only them?”

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