Senior Correspondent, OKEY MADUFORO, writes on efforts by APC in reaching out to South East electorate ahead February elections.
General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) of the then Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) had announced that 2011 would be his last attempt at running for the country’s presidency.
By the time he eventually lost to President Goodluck Jonathan, many had thought he would carry out his vow and stay away from active politics.
But barely three years after, the former head of state reversed himself and threw his gloves into the political ring to contest for the same office, now on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).
His return and eventual emergence as the presidential candidate of the party have since been causing ripples in the land.
This is especially given the deep-rooted structures of the APC in the country.
The party’s main opponent, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is not oblivious of the sustained challenges it is facing with Buhari in the race.
In fact, at a recent fund-raising ceremony for the PDP, a chieftain of the party, Prof. Jerry Gana, had warned that the party should not go to sleep or become complacent with the thought that the February general election would be a walk-over, given that APC, its main challenger, is not leaving anything to chance.
“If we take them for granted, we would regret its grave consequences,” he advised.
Gana’s concern eloquently expressed the level of apprehension currently pervading PDP over Buhari’s candidacy and his party.
This is not without reasons. Buhari under CPC polled over 12 million votes from very few states in the North, and pockets of votes in the South East and South West. The concern, thus, is that now riding on the wings of a party with wider sphere of influence and acceptance, it may be suicidal to take him for granted.
This is especially considering that APC, as presently constituted, is a fusion of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that had a firm grip of the South West, the CPC and the then All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) that commanded reasonable loyalty in the North.
This, as well as APC’s foray into Edo, Rivers and Imo states, is understandably giving realistic members of PDP reasons to be apprehensive.
It was, perhaps, against this backdrop that former Anambra State governor, Chris Ngige, told reporters in Awka that the APC was sure of 28 out of the 36 states of the federation in the election.
Ngige claimed to have drawn his inference from data and studies carried out by the party, international observers and independent investigators, adding that the figure was only conservative and may be more than the estimation.
The medical doctor-turned-senator, who is currently the South East zonal coordinator for APC presidential campaign council, noted that even the claims that PDP is in full control of the South East zone is contestable, boasting that it would not be rosy for the party in power.
South East and burden of loyalty
Of all the six geo-political zones in the country, the South East appears to be at the receiving end of the entire political lopsidedness, to the extent that at every dispensation, the area gets marginalised in the scheme of things.
Critics have particularly argued that the zone’s support for PDP has not attracted commensurate reward to its people.
First Republic Minister for Aviation and one of the few surviving members of the Zikist Movement, Mbazulike Amaechi, argued in this regard, picking holes with what he called the maddening loyalty and support of Ndigbo for the PDP.
He said: “Earlier this year, the federal government said it was going to carry out mid-term assessment of the Jonathan’s administration. So they went to find out economic development effected by the Jonathan’s administration. What were the figures that appeared? Total investment in the North Central was N495 billion; North West N297 billion; South West N215 billion; South South N212 billion; North East (due to the activities of Boko Haram) N114 billion and total investment in the South East N74 billion. That is the present government of Nigeria led by President Goodluck Jonathan, and the South East gave him that seat that he is occupying now. Still, Ndigbo are campaigning for Jonathan to go for a second tenure. How can we justify that? I personally led the campaign for Jonathan to go there and yet, what do we get? So you see that the wounds of the civil war have not even been treated let alone healing.”
Similar sentiment runs through some members of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, that appears divided over who to support in the election.
The president-general, Prof. Gary Enwo-Igariwey, had earlier denied the allegations levelled against the body by National Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chekwas Okorie, that the last World Igbo Congress (WIC) was sponsored by President Jonathan to curry support for his election.
Enwo-Igariwey contended that Ohanaeze Ndigbo had not endorsed anybody for the presidential election.
However, members of the organisation disagree, insisting that Ndigbo are firmly behind Jonathan.
Those on this divide argue that the APC presidential candidate had never deemed it imperative or even instructive to embark on aggressive campaign in the South East, apparently on suspicion that Ndigbo would not support him.
APC and the South East
The choice of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo from the South West geo-political zone as the running mate to Buhari in the APC, in a way, sustained that suspicion of the party’s neglect on South East. The insinuation has, in fact, become a campaign tool for the PDP members who snigger that the party is anti-Igbo.
Not even the presence of Ngige in the committee that selected Buhari’s running mate could change this impression. His membership was rather seen as a strategy to disqualify him from being considered for the position.
Ngige has, however, defended his party, noting that a political party has to consider where its electoral fortunes would be brighter.
“It is a game of numbers. Even in the PDP, what do Ndigbo have? We do not have a vice president, no Senate president, no Speaker of the House of Representatives, no Chief of Army Staff. We do not have the Chief Justice of the Federation and all that,” the senator said.
It was in apparent attempt to debunk the allegation of underestimation of Ndigbo by the APC that may have informed Buhari’s tour to the zone this time around.
Though turn-out in a campaign rally is hardly a yardstick for measuring a party’s acceptance profile, Buhari’s supporters have been in celebration mood, arguing that the impressive outing is enough to debunk the insinuation that APC cannot win the constitutional 25 per cent vote requirement in Igbo land.
APC National Auditor, George Moghalu, told TheNiche: “The issue of which party has sympathy for Ndigbo is not good for our polity. I still wonder if the PDP has done anything visible for Ndigbo enough to say that the party has sympathy for Ndigbo.
“Before, they said APC and Buhari were Boko Haram. Today, nobody is talking about that. Nigerians have become wiser now because the government of PDP cannot guarantee security of our brothers and sisters doing business and residing in the North. It is clear that the PDP government does not have sympathy for Ndigbo. All we hear and read in the papers are condolences by the PDP government. Nothing proactive is being done to avert future occurrences, yet they accuse APC of being anti-Ndigbo.”
While the APC presidential candidate rode through Igboland, he had tried to present a picture of what his government would look like.
In Anambra where Buhari was conferred with a chieftaincy title by the traditional ruler of Awka, Igwe Gibson Nwosu, he identified insecurity and corruption as the bane of Nigeria. He further took a look at the state of basic infrastructure in the country, promising to turn things around.
“If federal government is serious about insecurity in the country, it would have stopped the insurgency; but it could not even bring back our girls that were kidnapped.
“We intend, as a party, to empower Nigerians and improve on our education sector, and we are going to be up and doing to make sure that Nigerians have power 24 hours (round the clock),” he pledged.
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, was in his elements throughout Buhari’s campaign tour of the South East. He was particularly excited at the overwhelming turn-out at various states that the former head of state visited.
“When people get this wind of crowd, they get excited; but we in the APC get concerned. We get concerned because our people have seen it all in terms of hardship, in terms of poverty, in terms of maladministration. Do not listen to those who go about telling you that APC is not an Igbo party. Do not listen to those who always tell you that APC is a Muslim affair. We have a running mate that is the second-in-command in Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). And I wonder if (Enoch) Adeboye would allow one of his own to be a running mate to someone that is anti-Christianity.
“In Imo, you all can attest to the fact that the APC government has done a lot to better the lives of our people in all areas of governance. What has other parties done?” he asked.
While the argument goes on, observers are of the view that the 2015 general election would certainly define the place of Ndigbo in the country’s politics and may likely set a fresh agenda for the zone in future electoral contests.