Politics
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Igbo Politicians resident in Lagos State has said that they will all support any political party that is willing to give them the post of deputy governor
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Dec. 1, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT |
AHEAD of 2015 general elections, politicians of Igbo extraction living in Lagos State are of the view that it is time for the Igbo to produce at least the deputy governor of state. The politicians believed that they need the deputy governorship slot in exchange of their support for any political party in the state. The politicians under the auspices of the Ndigbo United Association, NUA, said their insistence on getting the deputy governorship and other elective positions in the state was based on the population of the Igbos in Lagos and their contributions to development of the state.
According to Anselm Njoku, national chairman, NUA, they were hopeful that an Igbo lady, who is in the governorship race on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would emerge as the governorship candidate, adding that if she did not emerge, they would proceed with their demand for deputy governorship slot and other elective positions.
“There is an Igbo lady in the race. Her name is Dr. Felicia Chukwunike. She is contesting on the platform of the PDP. It is the party that will take the decision on who would be deputy governor. But she is very well qualified. She has a PhD in Sociology and has been into consulting for many years. Whether she has any chance or not depends on the delegates who would vote at the governorship primary. I’ve been sampling the opinion of the delegates, and most of them are saying Lagos does not need a female governor for now. But until the primary election comes and goes, she is still hopeful. Yes, we are insisting on deputy governorship position. After the primary, if the woman does not emerge as the PDP governorship candidate, we will appeal to the leadership of the party to give Ndigbo other positions, particularly, deputy governor. Considering our population in Lagos and contributions to the development of this state, it is not a bad demand,” he said.
Njoku said the Igbos were more likely to get their request granted by the PDP than the All Progressives Congress, APC. The APC, in the past 15 years, has not given Igbo politicians in Lagos, the chance to contest on its platform. “We know the antecedent of the APC. By 2015, the APC would have been in power for 16 years. There are about 560 elective positions in Lagos and they have not given us ordinary councillorship. It would be a daydream for us to think they would give us deputy governor. Even if they give us, it would not come from their hearts. I don’t see them doing that. Otherwise, they would have started by giving us councillor; local government chairmen, House of Assembly members and so on,” he said.
“In 2011, some Igbo people ran for seats in the Lagos State House of Assembly on the platform of the PDP. Some Igbo politicians also ran for local government chairman in the last local government election. For example, Alimosho Local Government, it was an Igbo man that ran there on the platform of the PDP. It was unfortunate that the PDP did not win the election.
The PDP has the antecedent of allowing non-indigenes to contest on its platform in Lagos. That is why it seems we are tilting towards the PDP. But if the APC decides to give us deputy governor, then we will support them.”
On his part, Amobi Nnadiekwe, a chieftain of Igbo United Initiative, IUI, said people from the South-East zone in Lagos, will vote for any political party that fields an Igbo as deputy governor. He said the group had met with Igbo leaders and organisations including Ohaneze Ndigbo towards achieving this noble cause, because the population of Igbos in Lagos, cannot be undermined in the forthcoming general elections in the state, even though they have failed to realise this in the past.
“Our votes have always decided electoral victories in the state. Any party we vote for must win; hence, we refuse to be used to make up numbers in future elections in Lagos. Ndigbo will participate actively like never before in the 2015 general elections. We will continue to sensitize our people not to vote any party that fails to give the deputy governor slot to Igbos in Lagos. So, this is an assignment for parties jostling to win the gubernatorial race in the Centre of Excellence state next year. We don’t care about party, what matters most to Igbo is a party that has our interest at heart, whether APC, PDP, Labour or APGA. But if no party fields an Igbo man as deputy governor, we may be forced to boycott the governorship election in Lagos State.
“We have paid our dues and have contributed in the development of the state which warrants this demand. Except they see us as slaves who don’t deserve fair treatment. But if Lagosians are sincere, they would agree with me that Igbos are stakeholders in the Lagos project. We have developed virtually all parts of Lagos, a sign that we are not willing to leave the state or do anything to destroy or disrupt the relative peace in the state. If the truth must be told, Ndigbo have developed Lagos more than South East,” he said.
However, it’s yet to be seen whether any of the major political parties in the state would grant their demands.
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