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By Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu

For us, the latest journey of an attempt at emergence of President of Nigeria of South-East extraction started in June 2015.

Several attempts had been made since 1979 to produce President of Nigeria of South-East extraction for the first time since Nigeria-Biafra War officially ended on January 15, 1970 on the understanding of “No Victor, No Vanquished”, but the attempt from June 2015 to date has been different in many ways.

Although the vehicle to actualize it was registered as South-East APC Integrity Group and South-East APC Presidency Project 2023 was added in January 2020, we were also looking beyond APC as the platform and massive voter’s registration as key to actualizing the agenda.

When we started the process of selecting our preferred presidential aspirant of South-East extraction, we actually shortlisted Peter Obi and other non-APC members in addition to some APC members.

And when in June 2021 we went all out to encourage eligible voters to register to vote in 2023, it was not just to vote APC. But what was necessary was for APC and other political parties to take advantage of our spirited advocacy that had gained much traction across Nigeria.

From the structures we created and maintained in Abuja and all states of Nigeria, which structures were essentially for advocacy, mobilization and intelligence gathering, we became aware from early 2021 that we could deliver over 50 million votes for our preferred presidential candidate in 2023, which, we were convinced, no one could match let alone beat. We said so from then on, but many doubted us, citing obsolete past electoral statistics.

We remained undaunted. However, to our utter disappointment, South-East APC members with the resources to pay for expression of interest and nomination forms disbelieved us so did not accord us necessary recognition for one of them to become President of Nigeria on APC platform. We now know how they ended up with their selfish and self-centred mindset, thinking that they would be doing us a favour by partnering with us.

Where they thought that President Buhari would appoint or anoint one of them as APC presidential candidate, or that they could declare to contest for President of Nigeria a few days to presidential primary, they have now known how wrong they were. If only they had listened to our repeated calls for them to do the right things at the right time.

In PDP, similar naivety and tomfoolery played out among South-East persons who wanted to become presidential candidate of that party.

While we had estimated that over 80% of the Nigerian electorate in all parts of Nigeria wanted a South-Easterner to become President in 2023, those South-East individuals failed to do the needful to harness this massive goodwill that we had created and made public. They (including Obi) thought that the presidential ticket of APC or PDP, and the presidency, would be served them on a platter.

So, presidential candidacy of both APC and PDP went to non-South-Easterners. But rather fortuitously, Obi moved to another party – Labour Party – and the tens of millions of Nigerian electorate we had wooed for support of emergence of President of Nigeria of South-East extraction have followed him to that party.

Some people think it is an Obi phenomenon that is playing out now. Yes, the person of Obi has contributed to what Nigerians are witnessing now.

But any other credible South-Easterner would have created the current ripple effect. The luck or good sense of Obi was that he left PDP when he did. Now, what PDP lost, Labour Party has gained manifold.

If presidential general election held today, Obi’s Labour Party would sweep the polls. No doubt about that. And the only way that both APC and PDP can fight back is to drop Tinubu and Atiku as their presidential candidates and replace them with credible South-Easterners (not any of the jokers we saw at PDP and APC presidential primaries of 2023). And it is not too late for that to happen.

Nigerians want a credible South-Easterner to move into Aso Rock Presidential Villa on 29th May 2023, and they are not about to change their minds on that.

If party officials with obsolete mindset who populate APC and PDP, and who cannot feel the wind of change we saw and have announced since 2020, will not do the needful now before it is too late, both parties will suffer humiliating electoral defeats in 2023, from which they may not recover.

Dr Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu is the Convener/National Coordinator, of South-East APC Integrity Group and South-East APC Presidency Project 2023. His Contact: 09052910866, 08023163451.