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A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. George Agbakahi, has thrown more light on why Igbo will support the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
Agbakahi declared that the recent adoption of President Tinubu as the sole candidate of Ndigbo by the South East leaders of APC resonated with not only APC members but also non members in the region.
Speaking during Arise Television programme on Tuesday, tagged “Newsday” and monitored by our reporter in Abuja on Monday, Agbakahi said that the region has witnessed tremendous development projects under the current administration more than ever before.
He cited the reconstruction of Enugu-Onitsha expressway, Enugu-Port-Harcout expressway, the dualization of Enugu Ninth-Mile – Makurdi road as well as the establishment of South East Development Commission, SEDC, as some of the selling points of President Tinubu in the region.
Agbakahi noted that besides the projects and programmes, the Igbo want to be in the mainstream of Nigeria’s politics in order to stand a better chance of being supported by other regions to produce the president of the country when next they bid for it.
The chieftain of the APC maintained that they want to come together and vote for Tinubu overwhelmingly so he can continue the good work he is doing, stressing that most importantly, APC leaders in the zone have realized their mistakes in 2023 general elections which led to the party’s poor performance and have corrected them.
According to him, the division in some state chapters of the party, especially Enugu State contributed to low votes not only in Enugu but also other states in the region.
“Igbo want to be in the mainstream politics of Nigeria. We don’t want to remain in the periphery as has been the case since 2015.
“Southeast APC leadership and other members have endorsed the president of this great country for a second tenure and we do not have any doubt that he will win this election.
“There are certain issues that occurred in the 2023 elections and we have learned from them. The issue of lack of unity among the APC members in the southeast.
“You know in the past we in APC realized that we made a mistake in 2023 election and now the Governor of Imo State, Sen Hope Uzodimma,who is the political leader of South East, as well as the other two governors of Ebonyi and Enugu states, they have now come together with South East members of the National Working Committee, especially Chief Emma Eneukwu (Deputy National Chairman, South) and we now realized that mistake,” he said.
Citing more reasons why the leaders endorsed President Tinubu, Dr. Agbakahi said that currently APC controls three states out of five in the region, more National and State Assembly members and more projects sited in the region.
“Now in South East we have realized the role the current president has played in the South East development.
“Most of the roads in the South East; Enugu to Port-Harcourt, Enugu to Onitsha, Ninth all the way to Makurdi, Abakaliki all the way to Nasarawa, which goes all the way to Abuja.
“The construction of these roads are ongoing, some are already done. Look at the South East Development Commission, which has got a lot to do in the development of South East,” he said.
The APC Chieftain stated that aside from South East, the Tinubu’s administration has also done well nationally, citing the decreasing inflation rate which he said is now at 14.45%, increase in foreign reserves to $47 billion, and increase in FAAC allocation that has risen to N2 trillion as against the previous N934 billion as at 2023.
“We want a situation where he will complete his tenure and if he completes his second term bases on the fact that we Igbo will give him the required support, I think being in the mainstream will pay us a lot better than staying where we don’t know how it will go like what happened in 2023,” he further declared.
The party Chieftain insisted that APC remains the most viable option and vehicle for Igbo to achieve their aspiration for now, noting that other parties are in disarray.
He said that Nigeria is heading to one party dominance but not one party state, citing countries Swedish democratic party that ruled for over 50 to 60 years and British labour party that ruled for over 20 to 30 years at one point.
2027: Why Igbo will support Tinubu to complete second tenure – Agbakahi
