Ahead of the 2027 general elections, a Nigerian statesman, Chief Charles Ogbonnaya, has advocated stronger political cooperation among the three geo-political zones in the South to enhance the reelection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He said the South East and the South South should collaborate with the South West to ensure the reelection of Tinubu in 2027 and the retention of the presidency in the South.
In a statement he issued in Umuahia on Sunday, Chief Charles Ogbonnaya, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), lamented that unlike the North which always presents a united and cohesive front during elections, the South likes to sing discordant tones.
He said the most worrisome aspect of the issue is the fact that some parts of the South have allowed themselves to be manipulated by Northern politicians against the interests of the South.
“I had once raised the alarm that some of us in the South are allowing ourselves to be manipulated by some Northerners to work against ourselves. They are stoking divisions among us. It is time that we see through this charade,” he counselled.
Ogbonnaya, who is a two-time commissioner in Abia State, described the recent coalition formed by some politicians in Nigeria as a Northern agenda and a vehicle through which Northerners want to wrestle power from the South.
He noted that throughout Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years as president, such a move was never made because Northerners were united in support of their own.
He said Southerners should likewise rally round Tinubu to ensure that he serves out his two terms the way Buhari did.
According to him, “This is not about Tinubu or tribalism. It is about the rotation of the presidency between the North and South. The North has done eight years. The South under Tinubu should also do eight years.”
Chief Ogbonnaya further argued that Tinubu remains the only route through which the North can regain power in 2031 and not through any other Southern candidate.
“It is a matter of fact and indeed practical that only the candidature of Tinubu can ensure quick return of power in 2031. The North cannot afford to gamble otherwise,” he submitted.
The acclaimed cocoa farmer therefore urged the South to form a united team to sell Tinubu to the North and the entire Nigerians instead of engaging in the war of divisions among themselves.
Chief Charles Ogbonnaya also pointed to Tinubu’s achievements in office in the last two years as factors in favour of his reelection.
He said contrary to the submissions of a section of Nigeria, Tinubu has been fair to all the geopolitical zones in the distribution of appointments and infrastructure and, therefore, deserves re- election in 2027.
