‘You Couldn’t Take a Cutlass from a Strong Man Sitting Down’: Soludo Mocks Tinubu’s Opponents, tells Anambra to Back President

Soludo, while addressing his supporters, said voters who were determined to support opposition candidates despite expecting to lose should reconsider their position.

Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has warned voters in the state against supporting candidates opposed to President Bola Tinubu re-election, arguing that rejecting the ruling government will have devastating consequences for the state’s development, including the delivery of major federal road projects.

Soludo, while addressing his supporters, said voters who were determined to support opposition candidates despite expecting to lose should reconsider their position.

The governor, who is a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), insisted that electoral failure could cost Anambra State opportunities to secure critical infrastructure projects from the federal government.

“Some people are saying, ‘We know that we will fail but let’s vote and fail’. If we fail, there are consequences for failure,” the governor said.

“The erosion happening in Anambra is beyond the state’s capacity. It requires federal intervention, and that is why we need to vote for Tinubu. Dike, ‘Tinubu’ whom you couldn’t take power away from when he was not yet president, how do you think he will look at you now that he is the president and you take power away from him?” —Anambra State Governor, Prof. Soludo.

— CHUKS 🍥 (@ChuksEricE) October 12, 2026

He said that the scale of erosion in Anambra State was beyond the capacity of the state government alone, stressing that cooperation with the federal government was necessary to tackle the problem.

“Erosion in Anambra is bigger than what any state government can deal with. You need the cooperation and support of the federal government,” Soludo said.

The governor also used a metaphor about a strong man and his cutlass to argue that defeating Tinubu politically would be even impossible now that he occupies the presidency, noting that if he was not defeated when he was not an incumbent President, he cannot be defeated in an election as an incumbent President.

“You couldn’t snatch a cutlass from a strong man when he was on the ground, is it when he is standing up? A strong man laid down on the ground and you couldn’t take away from him what makes him a strong man, is it when he is standing so strong that he will stand and watch you snatch his cutlass,” Soludo said.

Addressing the Igbo electorate, Governor Soludo further criticised those advocating a vote for opposition candidates despite the possibility of electoral defeat.

“Igbos, a fool does not know when a plan was made. ‘Let’s fail, let’s fail’, we can’t fail with you because there are consequences if we fail,” he said.

Soludo subsequently listed several proposed federal road projects in the South-East, including a planned dual-carriageway superhighway linking communities in Anambra and neighbouring areas.

“Look at the road from Oba to Nnewi, through Nnewi South to Ugah, then to Aro Ndizogu to Ibugbe Junction in Okigwe. It is going to be designed to be a dual carriage superhighway. It is the federal government that will do it. The state government cannot do it,” he said.

According to the governor, the road project was already at the design stage, while another proposed route connecting Anambra East to Abaji was also being designed and discussed.

“It is already in design now. The one that will connect from Anambra East to Abaji is being designed and there is discussion about it. When it is submitted, it is the work of the people we sent to Abuja, that is what they will do. We have started it and the President himself has approved it,” Soludo said.

He argued that voters who reject the political establishment and refuse to vote for Tinubu will later find themselves unable to secure the same level of federal support for projects they need.

“Later, when money is put into it and work starts in the first year, you will go and vote for ‘let’s fail’, and when you fail, later you will go back to the President and tell him that the roads are still there,” he said.

“Go to the person you voted for, whom you joined in failing. I don’t know if you people understood me? It is not just about failing. It is not what can be done with emotions. Failure has consequences. You will lose something. There is no prize for second or third positions. If you fail, you have failed,” he added.

Though he is in the opposition political party and the only governor on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Governor Soludo has been publicly vocal about his support and alliance with President Tinubu.