- He disclosed that he initially refused to construct a road in the community because a federal lawmaker representing the area was in the opposition party.
The Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has admitted that is decision to provide critical public infrastructure and social amenities in some areas of the state is motivated by politics.
Speaking while inaugurating 12 km of roads in the Okpoko area on Monday, he disclosed that he initially refused to construct a road in the community because a federal lawmaker representing the area was in the opposition party.
He stated that when the house member complained about the poor state of the road, known as Nwokedi Street, to him, he dismissed his complaints because he was in opposition.
He said, “I rejected the advice to develop Nwokedi Street because the House member representing the area was formerly in the opposition. As of the time he brought the poor state of the road to my attention and advised it should be repaired, he was in the opposition then, and I did not listen to him.
“But one day, I was taking a walk, one guy showed me a road which the honourable member representing Ogbaru constituency 1, Noble Chukwunoso Igwe, had spoken to me about and because he was an opposition, I could not do any thing on the road then.
“Today, Noble Igwe is in our party, and he is a mainstream member, so we have listened to him. When he was in the opposition, he was in the parlour talking but his voice could not be heard, but today, he is not only a mainstream member of our party, but he is right in the bedroom talking with us. You cannot be outside and be talking, you have to come inside the bedroom so that we can listen to you.”
Soludo urged the people to support his government.
He said he is in governance because of places like Okpoko, noting that he will rebuild Okpoko and give the people a sense of belonging.
“Even if there is no money in Anambra, we wouldn’t mind using all the money in Anambra to develop Okpoko. Okpoko must be rebuilt. One of the reasons I became a governor was to give Okpoko identity,” he added