Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has described the reported support of 33 state governors for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid as an unprecedented milestone in Nigeria’s democratic history.
Soludo, who is the national leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), said the development reflected a broad political consensus on the need to sustain the Federal Government’s economic reforms and promote national unity, security and shared prosperity.
He made the remarks on Wednesday at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja, where he declared APGA’s support for Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
Soludo said his party believed in the unity and security of Nigeria, as well as the need to ensure prosperity for citizens, adding that these principles informed its decision to support the President.
“Mr President, to the best of my knowledge, there is no time in Nigeria’s history that there has been a greater consensus—a political and elite consensus. This is the first time we have about 33 governors seated here in support of a sitting President,” he said.
The governor also highlighted APGA’s progressive political identity, arguing that the party’s inclusion was essential to any effort to unite progressive forces across the country.
He noted that APGA was registered as a progressive party in 2002, 12 years before the formation of the APC in 2014.
Soludo called on political leaders who share progressive ideals to work together, describing the current political alignment as an opportunity to pursue what he called a new Nigeria.
Acknowledging the economic difficulties facing the country, he defended the Tinubu administration’s reform agenda, describing its policies as difficult but necessary for long-term economic transformation.
“In terms of the economic management of this country, there has never been any time in our history when there has been a greater elite consensus about the trajectory of economic reform. Never before!” he said.
He added that the next phase of the administration should focus on accelerating economic transformation and ensuring that the benefits of reforms reach more Nigerians.
According to Soludo, the country should move from economic stability and structural reforms towards what he described as “shared prosperity” through pragmatic progressivism.
He urged the President and other political leaders to sustain the reform programme, arguing that continuity would provide an opportunity to consolidate existing gains.
“Why change a winning team? If it is not broken, why fix it?” Soludo asked, reaffirming APGA’s commitment to supporting Tinubu’s re-election bid and his administration’s governance agenda.
The governor also called on Nigerians to remain committed to the reform process, expressing confidence that a second term for Tinubu would provide an opportunity to accelerate the administration’s transformation agenda.
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