For the second consecutive year, Governor Charles Soludo reportedly failed to attend the Ofala Festival of the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe (Agbogidi), in 2025 and 2026. This absence raises serious questions about the relationship between the governor and one of the most respected traditional rulers in Igboland.
How did this rift begin?
In January 2024, Soludo’s government suspended Igwe Damian Ezeani, the traditional ruler of Neni, for conferring the chieftaincy title of Odenjinji on Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who had joined the APC and was reportedly preparing to challenge Soludo in the 2025 governorship election.
The suspension by the governor angered Igwe Achebe, who was then Chairman of the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council. He publicly criticised the government’s treatment of traditional rulers and called for respect for the traditional institution.
Although the suspended monarch was later reinstated, the crisis deepened.
In January 2025, Soludo announced the end of Igwe Achebe’s tenure as chairman of the council and appointed Igwe Chidubem Iweka of Obosi under a newly amended law providing for rotational leadership. That was how governor Soludo stripped Igwe Achebe his position as the chairman of the traditional rulers council of Anambra State.
Tragically, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah died in September 2024, before the governorship election he was reportedly preparing to contest. And that his death has affected ndị Nnewi and Anambra State in a negative way. If he was alive, I believe Soludo would not be the governor for the second time.
Nobody is yet to cover the big space the death of Senator Ifeanyi Uba created.
Today, the question to governor Soludo remains: why allow political disagreements to overshadow a cultural celebration as important as Ofala?
Soludo’s strained relationship with Peter Obi and other prominent Anambra figures has also attracted public attention. Leaders should know that disagreement is inevitable, but reconciliation is a mark of maturity.
Governor Soludo, power is temporary, but history is permanent.
When your tenure ends, do not be surprised if unresolved grievances become political challenges. Nobody should celebrate another person’s downfall, but leaders must understand that the consequences of their actions can outlive their time in office.
Anambra deserves a governor who builds bridges, respects traditional institutions and unites people, not one whose legacy is overshadowed by avoidable disagreements.
Real men in politics don’t keep grudges publicly because there is no permanent friend or enemy in politics.
What governor Soludo is doing with our traditional rulers and respected public figures should be condemned. Let him amend his ways.
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