• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Soludo in the footsteps of technocrats-turned-politicians

Soludo in the footstep of technocrats turned politician

The emergence of Charles Chukwuma Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra State, has been received with excitement in some quarters.

Soludo has remained a respected economic policy authority in Nigeria since leaving the CBN, credited as the only CBN governor in recent times to ensure a single-digit inflation rate for 24 consecutive months.

For some observers, Soludo’s emergence and eventual success at the poll may perhaps be the beginning of a new chapter for Anambra State based on his track record and excellent performance while in public office.

A third quarter 2020 data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Anambra State had the lowest unemployment rate in Nigeria.

The data show that only 13 percent of the 2.3 million working people in the state are unemployed in a nation where the national average unemployment rate is over 27 percent.

Of course, this is a great feat by the Willie Obiano administration, which has shown great leadership promise in transforming the infrastructure of the state, attracting industries and creating a socially stable, business-friendly environment.

However, there is the feeling among the populace that the state is not where it should be, considering its potential and promise.

Read Also: Soludo wins APGA guber primaries

Pundits say that based on his track record as governor of the CBN where he embarked on major transformation of the banking sector through a banking consolidation that provided trillions of naira credit to thousands of businesses and created unprecedented employment, Soludo has what it takes to transform Anambra State.

They believe he can take the state to an enviable position by creating a conducive business environment for great indigenous entrepreneurs to invest in the state, and extending the same to the whole of the South-Eastern region.

However, others say the position of a state governor is a sharp contrast from being the head of the CBN, while so many factors could also count and decide his success or failure in office as state governor.

“Soludo should understand that the state governorship position is not like being a CBN governor, and Anambra is not like Lagos State or Rivers State that is commercial based, where there is money to execute projects.

“So, if he wants to perform he may adopt a stricter policy in taxation to get money from people, which may be misunderstood. I think he would perform if the people can be patient with him, but his policies may be misunderstood initially,” political commentator, Tade Ademola, says.

Since 2009, when he narrowly lost the Anambra State gubernatorial election as a candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to Peter Obi, Soludo has never hidden his intention to govern the state.

And since moving to APGA, he has thrown his hat in the ring on several occasions without success, while consistently being a supporter of Obiano’s administration. So, his decision to contest November 6, 2021, election did not come as a surprise to many.

Speaking recently, while declaring his ambition, Soludo had said he hoped to leverage his international connections to transform the state. He said having served the global community, he was now poised to serve and develop Anambra.

Soludo won the Wednesday’s primaries by polling a total of 740 votes out of a total of 792 votes cast in the election.

He won three other contestants that included the member representing Orumba-North/Orumba-South Federal Constituency, Okwudili Chukwu Ezenwankwo, who scored 41 votes; Damian Okolo, 7 votes, and ThankGod Ibe, who polled 4 votes.

Speaking on the exercise, Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano, described the conduct of the primaries as most peaceful, free, fair and transparent.

He charged APGA members to brace up for the challenges of making sure that the party wins the main election, and expressed optimism that the party would repeat its victory that returned him for a second term.

In 1998, Soludo was appointed to the position of professor of economics at the University of Nigeria; the next year he became a visiting professor at Swarthmore in Swarthmore, USA.

Soludo joined the Federal Government in 2003 and became the CBN governor from May 2004 to 2009.

Prior to his May 2004 appointment, he held the positions of chief economic adviser to former President Obasanjo and chief executive of the National Planning Commission of Nigeria.

He is also a member of the British Department’s International Advisory Group and currently serves on the Chief Economist Advisory Council (CEAC) of the World Bank.

He is also a consultant and strategic adviser to institutional investors in Africa; a member of the Technical Advisory Group of the Natural Resource Charter, Oxford, and member and chairman of boards of several companies.

In 2019, he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as a member of an eight-man Economic Advisory Council, which reports directly to him.