The Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Soludo, on Thursday fired back at critics of his administration who have described the massive road projects executed by his government as substandard and claimed that they are constantly being washed away by flooding.
Speaking through his Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Arch. Okey Ezeobi, Soludo noted that the flooding had earlier been predicted by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), pointing out that the incidents of flooding this year were a global issue and had nothing to do with the quality of roads constructed by his government across the state.
Recall that there has been constant rainfall in most parts of the state over the past three weeks, a development that has led to some parts of the road infrastructure in the state being washed away.
Ezeobi said that since Soludo commenced the massive road construction projects four years ago, there had been several rainy seasons, yet the roads had never collapsed, adding that the 2026 rains were not the first since the governor came into office.
He said, “Well, initially, as we were talking, this is not the first rainy season under the administration of Prof. Charles Soludo.
“The rainy season started way back in 2022, so we have had about four rainy seasons. So why is this year’s rainy season different from others?
“The reason is very simple. NiMet predicted that there would be a huge rainy season, flash floods and heavy flooding this year, and that, no matter what infrastructure you provided, flooding would overwhelm it. This is as a result of climate change, and it is taking place all over the world,” Ezeobi stated.
“Even in America, the floods have been devastating; in Ghana, in other countries in Africa, and Nigeria is not left out. I don’t know why Anambra should be different at this point.
“They have said that there will be flooding, and they said no matter what you do, the flood must come and the precipitation per minute will be far heavier than expected.”
The commissioner stated that there was bound to be flooding, adding that this was why this year’s rainy season seemed to be somewhat different because of the heavy flooding. He insisted that there was nothing any government could do anywhere in the world to completely prevent such natural occurrences.
“You can see what is happening in California in America, with floods carrying buildings away, and they have enough infrastructure to fight it, yet they cannot do anything about it.
“This is called force majeure, an act of nature and an act of God, and there is nothing one can do at this point.
“But at the end of the day, people are blaming the government for that, but it is not true, and we have not had it like this in the past four years.”
He decried the fact that Anambra is the second-smallest state after Lagos in terms of landmass, noting that while Lagos is getting bigger because it is reclaiming the ocean, Anambra is getting smaller due to ravaging gully erosion across the state.
Ezeobi also expressed dismay at the activities of developers in Anambra State who had chosen to construct buildings on floodplains. He stated that the government would not be held responsible for any form of natural disaster in the affected areas because the developers had been warned beforehand.
“I told those building on floodplains to vacate because you cannot do that when you know that they are flood channels and water must find its level.
“They expect the government to construct a bridge for water to cross over, and that is funny. I told them that water passes through here and that the place has a valley. How can you build on a valley?
“Go and visit Inland Doors at Nkpor in Idemili North Local Government Area and see for yourself what they are doing there.
“It is a floodplain, and people are building there. When there is flooding, they will video it and complain that the government is doing nothing about it.
“The area is a floodplain and is at a low level because there is a valley on the left and another valley on the right. That is why water submerges the area.
“The indigenes sell this land during the dry season, and the majority of those buildings do not have approved plans. There is a church that is building its headquarters on that floodplain. If you are coming from Inland Doors near Obosi town, the church is building there, and tomorrow they will blame the governor for that when one is not supposed to build in those places,” he said.
While speaking on the Ekwulobia flyover and other projects that have been subject to criticism, Ezeobi dismissed claims that the bridge had structural defects, adding that the bus terminal and police station had to be relocated some kilometres away from their former locations to avert congestion.
“The Ekwulobia flyover has no structural defects, and very soon it will be commissioned, and that would be in grand style.
“We had moved the Ekwulobia bus terminal to another nearby location, and we built and evaluated it. Even in America, they evaluate their projects more than four times.
“We built the Solution Park one kilometre away from Ekwulobia town because if you retain the terminal there, the place will be so congested like before.
“We have built the police station, and it is going to house not only police operatives but also other security operatives, and we call it a security post, as well as the operatives of the fire service,” he added.