PDP VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND THE INTEREST OF SOUTH EAST

I wrote this piece few days before Atiku picked Peter Obi as his running mate. Enjoy,,,

Atiku Abubakar has just been nominated by the greatest party in Africa PDP to represent the party come 2019 general elections. Atiku’s emergence from a party that has won back the heart of Nigerians as a National party that recognizes and shelters the diverse interests of all Nigerians irrespective of tribe, religion and ethnicity is divine and against all odds.

The Igbos have always championed the cause of PDP right from the metamorphoses of the party as G-34 Group chaired by eminent statesman, the learned Alex Ekwueme of the blessed memory. So, regardless of the subsequent formation of APGA by Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu the Eze Igbo Gburugburu to foster the interest and regional identity and heritage of the Igbos, the Igbos still in their nationalistic posture of One Nigeria, continued to stake their political future in PDP.

In 2015, when all regions said its either APC or you die, Igbos across the entire nation were the only ones willing to be thrown into the lagoon if that must be the ultimate price to pay for exercising their franchise based on their conscience by putting all their eggs in PDP basket, a party they felt was in the right direction and is taking Nigerians to the pinnacle of greatness where we belong and so crave as a nation , one people without division.

Today, the chickens have come home to roast. All Nigerians have now seen what Igbos saw sitting down even when they were standing on Iroko tree. Now everyone is desperate to go back to the ballot box and express his or her anger as a pay back to a Govt that has reneged in all their promises to the people.

Suddenly, the public opinion aligns towards a return of power to PDP, a party that is believed to be the only rallying point for all Nigerians. A true national party devoid of regional and selfish interest.

The most trending political news today is the choice of Atiku Abubakar as the Vice President. Many believed that without any debate, it belongs to the South East. But suddenly, its in the news that South west is also staking claims to the position, with some analysts believing that it will serve as the best bait to get them on PDP  ship to diffuse the stranglehold of APC in that region.

Incidentally, these analysts have forgotten that the genesis of the downfall of APC Govt is their marginalization of the East in the sharing of political positions. This is what gave IPOB its full voice of opposition and as time went on, they began to garner sympathy from every Ibo man who felt they were fighting for a just cause. This eventually led to the foundation of widespread agitation across all zones including the Niger Delta Militants without fear or intimidation.

It’s quick to note that IPOB is still there and insisting on a referendum as against political position or any other elections on the zone. But its worthy to note that the appointment of a Vice President from South East will help to force IPOB to a negotiation table, with the candidate representing the zone as Vice President seeking their understanding of the political reality hence acquiesce to peace for the interest of everyone from the region and Nigeria at large, by tuning down their rhetorics.

It will totally be suicidal to ignore the impact of IPOB in today’s Nigeria and continue in the part of political elimination and exclusion of Igbos for one flimsy excuse or the other.

It’s also pertinent to note that Igbos are the only political base that has strong representation of 25% or more across the major states in Nigeria regardless of the zone be it SW, SS, NW, NC, or NE. What this implies is that galvanizing the Igbo base through the Vice Presidential ticket is more critical to the success of PDP than any other zone at this time of our political history. The Igbos are virtually everywhere.

Accordingly, in 2015 Igbos contributed the highest margin of votes garnered in South West by PDP , a situation that closed the gap of APC win in the zone to a small marginal difference . And this occurred even when there was general outcry by Igbos that they were denied access to their voters cards in most of the areas they have larger population in South West like Lagos and also in the North.

The worse political calculation PDP will make is by indirectly resurrecting the voice of IPOB in another vociferous manner through another scheme of perceived political exclusion. This will spell doom for the incoming PDP Govt, because IPOB is handful, only a divided public opinion against them in SE through political inclusion will help diffuse the tension they will stir up. They are capable of destabilizing any Govt if not well managed like Jonathan did in his era.

Also we cannot forget the benefit of bloc vote in political analysis. The VP slot will guarantee block vote for PDP from all Igbos across the nation with a guarantee of 80 to 90 percent of block votes from SE alone. This is very critical to the success f PDP in 2019. 

The Igbos indeed deserve PDP Vice Presidential ticket considering the sacrifices they have made and suffered in the hands of this Govt just for being the only region and tribe that has continued to stick to PDP. Infact, without them PDP wouldn’t have been able to resurrect again. Their insistence on PDP come rain come shine is why the party survived disintegration that would have seen Momodu Sheriff an APC proxy destroy the party and turn it to an offshoot of APC.