Nigerian governor speaks on 'consulting' native doctor for his re-election bid

Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has refuted claims that he consulted a native doctor for his reelection bid.

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In a video clip that surfaced recently on social media, Mr Soludo stood before a man dressed like a native doctor who appeared to be foretelling the governor’s reelection.

The clip fuelled speculations that the governor consulted a native doctor to enquire about the prospects of his reelection bid.

‘It’s a skit’

But reacting in a statement on Wednesday by his spokesperson, Christian Aburime, Mr Soludo described the speculations as “totally false.”

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“For the interest of the general public, the video clip being maliciously circulated and misrepresented, as evidence of native doctor consultation, was taken during a recent official government meeting with Anambra-based content creators,” he said.

The governor noted that the video clip was only a skit which was recorded when the content creators were asked to showcase their talents during the meeting.

“As part of the presentations, one of the content creators performed a native doctor skit, a common comic genre in Nigerian entertainment, to demonstrate their creative abilities to the governor and other officials present,” he stated.

“This was purely an entertainment performance by a content creator, not a consultation session.”

‘Deeply disappointing’

Mr Soludo said it was “deeply disappointing” that his critics and political opponents would resort to “deliberately fabricate malicious narratives” from the skit to mislead Nigerians.

The governor boasted that he was focused on developing Anambra’s creative economy through investment plans and not consulting native doctors for his reelection.

He said he relies “solely” on the support of Anambra residents, not consultation with native doctors.

Mr Soludo stressed that he would remain focused on his development tasks and not be deterred by the antics of desperate political opponents behind the fabrications.

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“Therefore, the Anambra State Government calls on Ndi Anambra, media channels and social media users to disregard the misinformation concerning the circulated video clip.

“The public is also urged to always verify information before sharing or amplifying content and reject malicious stories sponsored to mislead the public,” he said.