‘Soludo Does Not Listen To Anybody, Anambra People Are Angry With Him’ – Valentine Ozigbo

Labour Party (LP) chieftain, Valentine Ozigbo, has expressed worries over Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo‘s alleged lack of concern about the rising spate of insecurity in the state.

Naija News reports that Ozigbi, speaking at a town Hall Meeting in Lagos State to discuss the state and the way forward for Anambra and the Southeast region, argued that Soludo’s leadership style lacked emotional intelligence, compassion and a willingness to listen to others.

The former president and CEO of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc., Transcorp, pointed out that Soludo’s silence on security issues like kidnapping, especially the recent abduction of the retired Archbishop of the Niger Province, Rev. Godwin Okpala, is alarming.

According to him, Soludo’s administration’s inability to address the state’s security challenges reflects its leadership deficit.

Ozigbo, who declared his intentions to run for state governor on the LP platform in 2026, emphasized the importance of leadership qualities such as humility, emotional intelligence, and compassion in addressing the state’s challenges.

He opined that Soludo’s failure to demonstrate good leadership qualities had contributed to the state’s insecurity, adding that Anambra people are unhappy with him.

He said, “I feel that one of the fundamental things about leadership is what I call the gift or skill of emotional intelligence and that is what I am bringing to the table.

“Apart from being competent and knowing what to do; acknowledging that you don’t know it all, humbling yourself to listen to others, respecting and showing love and compassion to one another, and knowing your environment are also very important in leadership. And that is what I think is missing in the leadership of Anambra State currently.

“The gentleman there today doesn’t listen to anybody. He thinks he knows it all and it is very telling of his acts. There is no compassion; there is nothing to show that this man is worried about the situation in the state.

“He doesn’t even speak about it. You hear that an archbishop has been kidnapped, and there is no comment from the governor.

“Beyond that, the highhandedness; the ‘Akaodo’ syndrome and the paucity of law and order are apparent. The question is: Who in Anambra is happy? Which institution is happy? Which department is happy? Hardly would you find any. So Anambra people are not happy and this is part of the discussion today. Let’s hear from those in Lagos. Are people happy with how Anambra is? How many of you are going home for Christmas? Are you excited to go home? Are you perturbed? Are you worried? Are you concerned? And that is the conversation.

“The truth is that our people are totally sad; very sad. Anambra people are not satisfied. The level of insecurity is horrendous, and there is not even any hope; there is no sign that something good is going to come out of this administration as far as security is concerned.”