Former Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Chinedum Orji, has stated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is the best route for the southeast to produce a Nigerian president.
Orji, who recently joined the APC from the Peoples Democratic Party, noted that the southeast needs to reach out to other regions to negotiate power.
His words: “It is clear that APC is the better route for South East to produce the president of Nigeria. The South East has to, therefore, get entrenched in the party, win the confidence and buy-in of others, negotiate, and get the ultimate political power.
“There is no way an Igbo man can be President of Nigeria if we don’t negotiate power. We have to talk with our southern brothers: the Yorubas; the South-South people, and northerners. Our population is not enough to vote for an Igbo as president. We need the votes and support of other Nigerians.
“If we continue to be at loggerheads with our brothers from the South West, North and South-South, it will be difficult to get the presidency. Have you ever asked this question: What did the President do to become number one today? He understood power dynamics and played his cards well.
“Coming from South West, he entered into a partnership with the North. It started in 2015. He supported the North to occupy the presidency in 2015 and 2019. In 2023, it was natural for the North to support him.
“By 2031, political power goes back to the North, and they will now decide where they want the vice president to come from. That is how Nigeria is built. The South East has to be in the calculation in the whole equation in APC. If Igbo don’t negotiate power in Nigeria, it is going to be difficult.”
