A fresh political clash has erupted in Anambra State as Governor Charles Soludo and Young Progressive Party (YPP) governorship candidate, Sir Paul Chukwuma, exchange accusations over an incident involving the Commissioner for Youth, Mr. Patrick Ayamba.
According to circulating reports and a trending video on social media, the altercation allegedly took place at Onitsha Medical Center.
It was claimed that Chukwuma and his supporters confronted the commissioner when they visited the hospital to transfer victims of an earlier taskforce-related attack to another facility.
The video reportedly shows that a vehicle belonging to Commissioner Ayamba was parked at the hospital entrance, allegedly obstructing Chukwuma’s team.
This resulted in a brief scuffle before the situation was calmed by onlookers.
However, Chukwuma, through his media team, has strongly refuted the allegations, calling them an orchestrated attempt by the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to suppress opposition voices.
“We have seen the video of Sir Paul Chukwuma’s intervention at the Onitsha Medical Centre, now in circulation by the failed APGA government in Anambra State.”
“This is part of the ongoing efforts of Soludo’s government to keep grappling with straws, in a bid to avoid serious engagement regarding his performance so far. We, however, sympathize with them because we reckon that such behavior is expected from an outgoing government, with nothing left to offer.”
Chukwuma’s media team explained that the YPP candidate had suspended his campaign plans in response to violence allegedly carried out by state operatives against traders in the Onitsha main market, which reportedly led to fatalities.
“A few days ago, the Governorship candidate of the YPP, Sir Paul Chukwuma, had to suspend his initial campaign plans to respond to an emergency arising from the violence meted out to innocent traders by operatives of the Anambra State Government, leading to some deaths, right in the heart of the main market in Onitsha.”
“This shocking incident immediately triggered the traders to their wits’ end, leading to the destruction of vehicles belonging to the leaders of Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra State – OCHA Brigade, accused of leading the onslaught on the traders.”
“The agency’s office was also vandalized. This was the situation in the market when Sir Paul Chukwuma arrived in the main market, Onitsha, and pleaded with the traders to remain calm and law-abiding. This can be seen in the video of Paul Chukwuma’s outing in the market.”
Chukwuma was reportedly responding to complaints that injured victims were not being properly treated at the hospital.
“Responding to the complaints that some of the injured traders during the attack by the government operatives have not been admitted or are not receiving adequate treatment at the hospital where they were taken, Sir Paul Chukwuma then assured that he was going to the hospital to ensure that they are treated and adequately taken care of.”
Upon reaching the hospital, the YPP candidate reportedly arranged for an ambulance to transfer the victims.
“Upon arrival at the hospital, Paul Chukwuma was asked to get an ambulance if he wanted to have the injured traders transferred to another hospital, and he complied. While the injured were taken into the waiting ambulance arranged by Paul Chukwuma, a branded sienna vehicle approached the gate and blocked the entrance gate.”
“A government official then disembarked from the vehicle and immediately proceeded to the hospital, ordering them to shut their doors. Realizing that the occupant of the sienna is a serving official of the same government whose operatives killed their relatives and injured others, some of the relatives launched an attack on the government official.”
“In fact, the government official first earned the wrath of the people when he ordered the hospital to close its doors. This infuriated the relatives of the injured and deceased who were present. At this point, the official of the government was immediately asked to leave the place and to remove his vehicle, which he had used to block the gate.”
The YPP campaign concluded with a scathing critique of Governor Soludo’s administration and a warning about the upcoming election.
“The APGA government in Anambra State must take note that they are at cross purposes with the people of Anambra State, and no amount of attempts to derail credible and healthy competition from the YPP, Sir Paul Chukwuma, and his Deputy, Uzu Okagbue, can stand. What we are asking is simple: the governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Soludo, must tell us what he has done with the billions of public funds he has overseen for and on behalf of the people and government of Anambra State in over three years.”
“The Governor may wish to grandstand and put up all manner of theatrical distractions to evade accountability, but he will surely not escape the rejection of Ndi Anambra on the ballot come November 8, 2025.”
