Despite the clamor for Presidency to come to the South East in 2023 and despite the unalloyed loyalty of the region to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), there are strong indications that no aspirant from the region will be on the Presidential ballot next year.
Global Upfront Newspapers (GUN) is privy to critical information showing that South East region has been edged out of the President or Vice Presidential slot of the party in 2023 polls.
Even the leading current Presidential aspirant of the party who was the flag bearers in 2019; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who ran the last election with former Anambra State, Governor Mr Peter Obi, is reportedly thinking South South and romancing with Delta State, Governor Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, attributing his position to the attitude of the South East PDP Governors to him, both now and in 2019.
GUN learnt that even though Obi’s popularity for either Presidential or Vice Presidential ticket remains overwhelming across the country, Atiku is said to be angry with the two PDP Governors – Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Dr Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), who are fanatically following Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, just to undermine him.
“I don’t mind if they were supporting aspirants from the South East but instead they are working assiduously for Governor Wike.
“It’s baffling how Governors from the South East with all the points of political equation in their favour choosing to work for South South that just finished Presidency of the party for nine years, six in the President and three in the Vice Presidency.”
The Two South East PDP Governors, Ugwuanyi and Ikpeazu have strangely and openly shown their loyalty to Wike Presidency by directing all statutory delegates from their States and other non-PDP States in the region to note that ‘Wike bu ebeano,’ meaning ‘Wike is where we are.’
Even with the support for a South East person being overwhelming among the people of the region, these Governors continues to work against the tide for Wike just to undermine others including their own brothers especially the leading Igbo aspirants Peter Obi and Anyim Pius Anyim.
Some chieftains of PDP who spoke on this matter to GUN wonders the reason behind the South East Governors position even with Governor Wike’s open antagonism against Ndigbo.
They recall that after 2018 National Convention in Port Harcourt in which Wike’s candidate lost, he openly abused the South East region and has followed it up with some untoward behaviors against Ndigbo in Port Harcourt including declaring unequivocally that he is not an Igbo.
GUN recalls that in all Presidential elections in 1999; 2003; 2011; 2015 and 2019, PDP has recorded more than 75% votes in the region.
The region remains the only geopolitical region since 1999 that has not tasted the President or the Vice President slot, not minding that it’s peopled by one of the three major ethnic groups in the country.
