By Izunna Okafor, Awka
A social media user has shared a video of where what he described as the beef between the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Peter Obi started.
The video, which is currently trending on social media, captured an incident that reportedly happened at the International Convention Center in Awka, the state’s capital.
Although the incident did not happen recently, but in 2023 during the celebration of the One Year Anniversary of Governor Soludo’s administration; the event was graced by many dignitaries from different parts of the country and beyond, including former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.
The video captured the moment when the celebrant, Governor Soludo, was halfway into his anniversary speech, and the entire hall surprisingly became filled with an outburst of joy, cheers and fanfare, following the arrival of Mr. Obi.
Greeted with standing ovation and lively reactions from the participants at the event, the moment, which lasted for some minutes, interrupted the speech being delivered by the Governor, as he unavoidably paused till things settled.
Reports have it that when Obi gently arrived and noticed that the Governor was delivering speech, he initially wanted to settle down quietly at the back and listen from there till the Governor finished, to avoid causing distraction.
However, the ushers reportedly insisted that he should proceed to the front where special seats were reserved for special guests like him.
It was then in the process of being ushered to the special guests’ seats that his noticed by the people, and the entire hall erupted with the fanfare that momentarily stole the show.
A greater number of personalities at the front stood up and welcomed Obi, including former president Obasanjo; except for a few persons related to the sitting government.
The shouting in the hall lasted as long as the greetings lasted, till moments after Obi finally settled down
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Governor Soludo said as calm gradually returned.
Based on the foregoing, reactions from netizens indicate that the interruption and the disruption caused by Obi’s least-expected arrival at the anniversary event might not have gone down well with the Governor, and might not be unconnected with the current political relationship between the two.
Watch the video below:
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