A former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, has been sworn in as the Anambra State Governor. He was sworn in on Thursday.
Soludo, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance was declared as the winner of November 6 2021, Anambra Governorship Election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
He won 19 of the 21 local governments areas including Ihiala LGA.
“That Charles Chukwuma Soludo of APGA, having satisfied the requirements of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the Returning Officer of the Anambra Governorship Election, Prof Florence Obi, said while announcing the election result.
Read major things you should know about the new Anambra governor:
1. Background
Soludo was born on July 28, 1960, and hails from Isuofia in the Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. He lost his mother at a tender age.
2. Family man
The professor is married to Mrs Nonye Soludo and they have been blessed with six children. Before his emergence as governor, Soludo’s private life was kept away from the media.
3. Political journey
In his first attempt in 2019, the professor of Economics contested for the governorship seat in Anambra State under the People’s Democratic Party but lost to Peter Obi.
After his failed attempt, he dumped the PDP on July 17, 2013, and joined the All Progressive Grand Alliance in preparation for the November 2013, Anambra state governorship election. However, Soludo and other aspirants were disqualified by the APGA Screening Committee in August 2013.
In 2021, Soludo declared his intention to vie for the governorship seat again. Soludo, who was the apex bank governor between 2004 and 2009, was declared winner after the November 6 election was declared inconclusive by INEC and after a supplementary election was held in the Ihiala Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday. He won 19 of the 21 local governments areas including Ihiala LGA.
The 61-year-old Soludo won with 112,229 votes beating Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party, who polled 53,807 votes, and Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress who got 43,285 votes. Ifeanyi Ubah of the Young Progressive Party polled 21,261 votes came fourth.
4. Scholarly career
Soludo graduated with a First Class Honours degree in 1984, an MSc in Economics in 1987, and a PhD in 1989, winning prizes for being the best student at all three levels.
He has been trained and involved in research, teaching, and auditing in such disciplines as multi-country macro-econometric modelling, techniques of computable general equilibrium modelling, survey methodology, and panel data econometrics, among others.
A prolific macroeconomist, Soludo obtained his three degrees and then a professorship at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, Enugu State.
5. Teaching career
Soludo has been a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund, the University of Cambridge, the Brookings Institution, the University of Warwick, and the University of Oxford as well as a visiting professor at Swarthmore College (USA). He has also worked as a consultant for a number of international organisations, including The World Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the United Nations Development Programme.
By 1999, Soludo became a visiting professor at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, USA, he was also a lecturer at Oxford, Cambridge, and Warwick University. He has also been a guest scholar at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Brookings Institution.
6. CBN Governor
Soludo serve in 2003 as the Chief Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and he was named governor of CBN on 29 May 2004 He is also a member of the British Department for International Development’s International Advisory Group.
As CBN Governor, Soludo is credited with refocusing the Central Bank as an effective monetary authority, successfully implementing a fundamental restructuring that is said to have led to unprecedented consolidation of the Nigerian banking system.
Soludo championed the establishment of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a continental, private-sector-driven, investment bank, according to a statement on the CBN official page.
7. Government
Soludo joined the Federal Government in 2003 Prior to his May 2004 appointment to the CBN chairmanship, he held the positions of Chief Economic Adviser to former President Obasanjo and Chief Executive of the National Planning Commission of Nigeria.
In January 2008, in a speech to the Nigerian Economic Society, he predicted consolidation in the private banking industry, saying “By the end of 2008, there will be fewer banks than there are today.
8. Appointment as Economic Advisory Council member
On 16 September 2019, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), appointed Soludo as a member of a newly formed 8-member Economic Advisory Council which would report directly to the President.
9. Gunmen attack
In April 2021 during the build-up to the election, Soludo narrowly escaped death when gunmen unleashed terror on him and his security aides during a town hall meeting in his hometown in Isuofia in the Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra.
Three of his police orderlies were killed during the attack which he described as “senseless”. Soludo dedicated his victory to the three policemen in his acceptance speech.
10. Legal battle as APGA candidate
Soludo’s walk to victory was paved with stony challenges including legal battles and intra-party squabbles but the Supreme Court in Abuja affirmed him as APGA governorship candidate. This was after the sacking of a former APGA candidate, Chukwuma Umeoji, by the court.
The court then ordered INEC to replace Umeoji with Soludo as the validly elected candidate of APGA for the governorship election.
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