Candidate Soludo and the WAEC Fuss

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The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the Anambra State governorship election, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has fired the first salvo in the war of words expected at the governorship election campaigns with his attack on the educational attainments of other candidates, writes David-Chyddy Eleke

The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the Anambra State governorship election, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, last week stirred the hornet’s nest when he attacked the educational attainments of other candidates in the race.

Speaking at the inauguration the campaign council of the party in Awka, the state capital, Soludo while using the opportunity to market himself by praising the qualities of APGA candidates, said Anambra State was too important to be governed by people with the basic West African School Certificate (WASC) as educational qualification.

He said: “APGA has a star-studded team for this election, and it is the party with the best brains. Look at other political parties and their candidates, and you will find out that they have just First School Leaving Certificate and others WAEC as their highest qualification. Is it First School Leaving Certificate and WAEC that they will use to govern Anambra? Anambra has outgrown such kind of state and you cannot use those certificates to govern Anambra. Look at my running mate, Dr. Onyekachi Ibezim, a medical doctor. You can’t beat our team.”

Soludo was not the only one who saw the brightness of the party’s candidate as a plus, as the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Victor Oye who also spoke at the event, toed the same line of argument.

“Let those vying for governorship against Soludo bring their certificates let’s see. We have a candidate that has first class in every level of his education. He is a renowned professor of Economics and a former CBN governor,” Oye reportedly said.

Apparently referring to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Andy Ubah, who has not been recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Oye said: “Let that candidate who is assembling governors from everywhere to come to Anambra come and show us his certificate first. He has none. We will remain steadfast and continue to pray and we hope that victory trumpet will sound on November 6. Soludo has won the election already and we are confident of it,” he added.

The comments by Soludo and Oye have however generated controversies in the state and outside, including on the social and traditional media. While some people have agreed with Soludo that the state is too sophisticated to be left in the hands of a poorly educated person, others have accused the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of attempting to intimidate other candidates with his educational accomplishments, even when they met the educational qualifications as stipulated in the Constitution.

For instance, the 1999 Constitution as amended is very clear on who can become a governor in the country. To be elected as governor of a state, one must must be educated to at least the School Certificate level or its equivalent, among other requirements.

What this means is that those who submitted School Certificate as their highest educational qualification are also qualified, especially if they meet the other stipulated requirements.

Reacting to the comments by Soludo and his party, the senator representing Anambra South senatorial zone and governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, challenged the APGA candidate to a debate on matters concerning governance. Ubah stated that having a PhD does not translate to one being good in governance, adding that native intelligence and human relations were some of the factors that could enhance good governance. He noted that he had these qualities.

In a statement personally signed, Ubah said: “In our quest to deepen our democracy which thrives on issue-based and constructive deliberations, I have watched with keen interest, the mudslinging and needlessly disruptive comment made by Prof. Soludo to the effect that a WAEC certificate holder cannot govern Anambra State.

“To the glory of God, having recently graduated with a 2.2 LL.B Hons from the prestigious Baze University, Abuja by dint of hard-work, I do not consider it necessary or feel the obsessive compulsion to flaunt my university degree as it is not a prerequisite to contest for governorship.

“Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, etc all rose to the apex of success without degrees. It is also worthy of note to let Soludo know that those money bags he is anticipating to bankroll his campaign in Anambra are also not degree holders. In the same vein, those that gave him employment both in the past and present are also not degree holders. I am speaking the mind of other aspirants because I believe that anybody that wants to govern Anambra has the right to contest and should not be tongue-lashed because of a basic requirement by INEC.

“The truth is that politics has evolved beyond uncouth aspersions and mudslinging. Having taken my time to carefully observe, study and analyse this statement, I have come to the conclusion that there is no justification in his statement as I personally believe that my formidable track record of achievements and wealth of experience as a private investor have earned me tremendous knowledge, skills and capacity to understand the multiple expectations of Anambrarians.

“I sincerely retain the belief that the era of ‘textbook grammatical grandstanding’ and theoretical politics is over in Anambra. Our people now want a leader with practicable ideas and dynamism to move the state forward. Ideas that will proffer sustainable solutions to the socio-economic problems beclouding the state due to bad governance brought to the fore by the present government.

“In this regard, I am challenging Prof. Soludo to an open public manifesto debate with me. Let us put our manifestos out before the court of public opinion and adjudication so as to let the people decide their preferred candidate whose agenda resonates with the layman and electorate. I am calling on Prof. Soludo to unveil his manifesto and engage the people of Anambra State constructively and objectively. I wish to further state, my readiness to fully sponsor such a debate within the next seven days of presenting his manifesto.”

Another candidate, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has also reacted to the comment by Soludo.

Okonkwo, a Russian university-trained PhD holder spoke through the publicity secretary of his party, Mr. Afam Ofomata in a statment. He said the APGA candidate should rather rejoice that he has been enlisted in the race by INEC.

“It is public knowledge that Soludo has never had anything to offer Ndi Anambra. Prof. Soludo cannot comfortably point to any landmark project for the benefit of Ndi Anambra in his five years as CBN governor; even a project as ordinary as a hospital he raised money for in memory of his mother is abandoned.”

Meanwhile, some Anambra indigenes have reacted to the issue of qualification, with some tongue-lashing Ubah for challenging Soludo to a contest. A social media user, Chalky Eke chided Ifeanyi Ubah, saying: “Is it this law degree that Ifeanyi Ubah acquired through akwukwo mgbede (meaning evening education) that is intoxicating him to the level of challenging a professor of Soludo’s standing to a debate? He should beware.”

Another WhatsApp user, Master Ikenna Ibe likened Ubah to the bird ‘Nwanza’, who after feeding to its fill, invited its ‘chi’ (creator), to a wrestling contest.

An APGA faithful, Mr. Emeka Asoanya however went comical when he said that Prof. Soludo should first come and debate with him (Asoanya), and convince him why he should engage Ubah.

Asoanya said he would be disappointed if Soludo accepted Ubah’s challenge, saying that would amount to dignifying him.

Mr. Chima Chriatian, a member of PDP, while reacting to the issue said: “It would be erroneous to deny the critical role played by knowledge, especially those acquired through formal education, in evaluating the competence of a prospective leader. But to insist that good governance cannot be delivered except one reaches the peak of academic pursuits also misses the point.

“We have seen utterly useless professors. We have seen utterly useless school dropouts. We have also seen real game-changers on both sides of the academic divide. This close to the election, our focus should be on who has what plans for Ndi Anambra. Ongoing certificate-measuring contest is distracting. It has trended long enough and should stop forthwith.”

Meanwhile, in a bid not to offend a larger population of the people of Anambra State, the Soludo Campaign organisation has commenced a fence-mending move, explaining that the comment was not meant to hurt, but out of love for the state. Deputy Director of Media in the Soludo Campaign organisation, Mr. Emeka Ozumba, said it was not true that Soludo meant to denigrate his opponents by referring to their lowly educational qualifications.

However, Soludo’s comments have set to the tone for the war of words expected as the campaign progresses.