Expectedly, politicians, who wish to run for the 2025 gubernatorial elections in Anambra, are bent on denying the obvious. They talk down – or rather play the ostrich by pretending not to see – the massive transformation going on in all sectors of the economy in Anambra State in order to make themselves look good and support their jaundiced narratives. When one commentator confronted a social media handler who dished out misinformation for these deceptive politicians, the social media handler responded by telling the commentator that he should know that ‘’this is the game of politics and that lies are allowed’’. Politics should not be about deception!

Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s transformational leadership makes the work of these political ‘hopefuls’ extremely difficult. And many – if not all of them – have even resorted to making promises that no politician can ever keep. At least, recent history shows that. They all say that they plan to run for a single term in office.

Here are the issues. Anambra State has an unwritten zoning arrangement for the governorship position that allows power to rotate between the three senatorial zones in the state, after every eight years. This arrangement was solidified by former Governor Peter Obi, who insisted that his then political party, APGA, produced a candidate from Anambra North as a way to balance the power rotation after his tenure, since he came from Anambra Central. Today, after Anambra North, it is the turn of Anambra South – the region the incumbent governor hails from. This has balanced the political calculus in Anambra and has ensured that Anambra has been peaceful politically. This has really worked in Anambra and the consensus is that this is the way to go.

In order not to alter this arrangement, all the aspiring politicians for the 2025 elections – off course most of them are from Anambra South where the incumbent comes from – have promised to run for only one term.

But no politician, in history, has kept such promise. Making this promise is to play with people’s intelligence. In some cases, there are even arguments about whether a politician actually made the one–term promise. In 2014, during the 2015 presidential election campaigns, President Olusegun Obasanjo told Bloomberg News that, in the 2011 election campaigns, President Jonathan promised not to serve beyond a single term. This was denied by President Jonathan’s camp. In 2018, the social media was awash with an interview that was purportedly granted by President Buhari to Daily Trust where he promised to run for one term if elected in 2015. But the then presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, argued that the president was misquoted.

In 2019, the Politico newspaper, reported that President Biden – who was 77 years then – signaled to aides that he would run for only one term. If this was actually true, observers of the recent US election will tell you that the only reason President Biden did not run for re-election was because of his age, probably his health and pressure from his political party. (He actually started the campaigns for his re-election before he threw in the towel). In the case of President Nelson Mandela, who is revered as one of Africa’s greatest leaders, if not for his failing health and age, Mandela would probably not have retired from active politics at 80 years in 1999 – the year he decided not to run for re-election. In Africa, the sit-tight culture of leaders makes a 4–year tenure promise an impossibility! Only life-threatening issues make this ‘’promise’’ possible.

Let us even assume that these politicians who claim to serve for only one term are honest about it and interrogate their concept of development. Many of them do not even have a track record of a strong public service experience. This means that they would likely take the first two years to learn on the job, if they were elected by any chance. They would probably not even achieve anything in their proposed 4 years. (Governor Soludo performed exceptionally well in the last 30 months because he came with a lot of experience). Besides, the conception and planning of mega projects take time. In the UK, for example, the Hinkley Point C Power Project which began in 2018 is expected to be completed in 2028.

In Anambra, massive projects are expected to commence in the coming months. They include the remodeling of the Onitsha main market, the construction of three new smart and eco-friendly cities and a massive railway system within the state. So far, there are many mega projects Governor Soludo would be commissioning in the coming months. Interested readers can see these projects here: https://www.thecable.ng/on-5-mega-projects-executed-by-soludo-without-borrowing-a-penny/

In terms of security, despite the fact that most communities do not have functional police stations in the state, the Governor Soludo-led administration’s community policing strategy still remains the most viable way to keep Anambra safe. Tech is also part of the strategy being used to keep Anambra safe. Security is not something to play divisive politics with. It is everybody’s job to keep their communities safe!

The future of Anambra, under Governor Soludo’s watch, is really bright and the politicians spewing lies because of their selfish ambitions know this.

Nwankwo is the special adviser to Soludo on special projects.