*President: Anambra To Be Included In National Rail, Gas Master Plans
THE Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, on Thursday, May 8, announced that his party, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has formally adopted President Bola Tinubu as its candidate for the 2027 presidential election.
Soludo, who disclosed this during a reception organised in honour of the visiting President, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said: “APGA is ideologically and strategically aligned with the centre.”
The reception, held at the Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka, added: “In 2011, before I joined APGA in 2013, APGA took an official position to support and work with the political party and government at the centre.
“Indeed, in that year, APGA adopted the sitting President then as its presidential candidate, and I want to report that that policy by APGA has not changed.”
Soludo, who has already secure APGA’s ticket in the off-cycle November governorship election in the state, said both APGA and APC profess “progressivism” and share ideological alignments, noting: “Coincidentally, Mr. President, at this moment in history, the government at the centre is the one that also professes progressivism.
“As the foremost progressive party in Nigeria, APGA is strategically and ideologically aligned with the centre.
“And so far, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, the progressives are working well together.”
Recall that APGA adopted the then President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as its presidential candidate ahead of the 2011 general election. But in 2023, the party dropped the policy and elected Prof. Peter Umeadi as its presidential candidate ahead of the general election.
In his response, Tinubu, who was on a one-day state visit, said Anambra State will be included in the National Rail Master Plan, having been excluded from the rail development blueprint in the initial plan, assuring that the Federal Ministry of Transportation would correct the error.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, quoted the President as saying: “I am standing before you to say that the Ministry of Transportation is aware and will include the connection in the Master Plan and give it attention.”
The President pledged federal support for ecological interventions. Acknowledging the state’s vast gas reserves, he assured that Anambra would be incorporated into the National Gas Master Plan.
While underscoring infrastructure priorities, Tinubu stressed the strategic importance of road projects connecting Anambra to Kogi State to enhance access to the North Central region and Abuja, even as he admitted that some federal roads had been neglected and expressed readiness to address the lapses.
During the visit, the President commissioned several projects, including the Emeka Anyaoku Institute for International Studies and Diplomacy at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, and components of the Solution Fun City developed by the Soludo administration.
Tinubu was conferred with the title Dikesinmba of Anambra State by the state’s traditional rulers in recognition of his contributions to national development.
Reaffirming his commitment to unity and inclusive development, the President stated:“We are one family, a single family, diverse, living in the same house called Nigeria.
“Our diversity must lead to prosperity. We must work together to be a united Nigeria.”
Tinubu’s visit to Anambra is the first since 2012 when Jonathan commissioned a brewery in the state.
