Politics
THE deputy director of media and publicity for the Atiku Presidential Campaign Management Committee, Mr. Uloka Chibuike has debunked insinuation in some quarters that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, denied the Igbo the party’s presidential ticket for the 2923 election, saying the truth of the matter was that the Igbo were not ready for the ticket.
Speaking in Awka, Chibuike recalled that rather than work towards securing the presidential ticket of PDP, the governors of the party from the South East were hobnobbing with an aspirant from another zone, thus making it obvious that the zone was not ready for the PDP ticket.
He said: “Even if the party had wanted to allow an Igbo man to fly the presidential ticket, whose support would the ticket enjoy when the two PDP governors we have in the South East were busy following Governor Nyesom Wike around like his house servants?
“For them, it was Wike for President and not one of the Igbo aspirants. The records are still there. And how many votes did Igbo presidential aspirants garner at the primaries? They even followed Wike to Awka to mock Peter Obi that he cannot win the primaries, and owned up to it.
“Again, which Igbo presidential aspirant would have won the ticket and gone ahead to challenge for the President for a party in the opposition? Certainly none.
“Wike masterminded the weakness of the South East to challenge for the ticket, and we must learn the truth and trade with caution.
“In 2011 and 2015, we made this same mistake with Goodluck Jonathan and sold our rights to the Otuoke man by adopting him as Igbo-born, bestowing upon him the name Ebele Azikiwe, and threatening that he represents Igbo interests and that any attack on him will be a direct attack on the Igbo Nation. It’s unfortunate that we have yet to learn anything from that cowardice.
“If the few Igbo insist it was their turn to produce the president in PDP, we must remind them that in 2011 and 2015, we supported Jonathan as an Igbo son, and he won one term and lost the other on behalf of Ndi-Igbo. We robbed ourselves of our future and must take the blame.
“When I see Igbo supporting Wike, I feel repulsed and wish they would never identify as ndi-Igbo. Nyesom Wike, like Jonathan, attempted to take the show from ndi-Igbo once more, but luck was not on his side. Instead, our few political leaders are following him aimlessly.
“If Wike professes to be fighting for justice, his interest should have been for any of the Igbo contenders for PDP Presidential ticket to emerge candidate, but we are not interested in issues, but rhetorics and sentiments.
“The only interest of the Igbo in Nigeria today should be the alliance that will give us power. If the North will give us that alliance, we’ll be willing to make any sacrifice to gain the alliance and produce a President.”
-Vanguard
KN
Tags: Atiku Abubakar Nyesom Wike Peter Obi Uloka Chibuike
