An Igbo group, Njiko Igbo Forum (NIF), has frowned at the adoption of President Bola Tinubu as its candidate in the 2027 presidential election by the governor of Anambra State and leader of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof Charles Soludo.
Njiko Igbo, in a statement made available to the media, said Igbo should be counted out of the adoption, stressing that they would back the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, in 2027.
The statement, signed by the National President of the group, Rev Okechukwu Obioha, added that Tinubu would only get 5% votes from the Igbo electorate in 2027 to improve on the 3% he got in 2023.
It stated that the South East region should be allowed to complete the remaining four years of the eight-year tenure of the South in 2027.
The statement added: “There is no amount of so-called adoption of Tinubu for 2027 by Soludo APGA that will turn Igbo votes to Tinubu.
“The Igbo, and particularly the Southeast electorate, will give Tinubu 5% votes in 2027, an increase from the 3% votes he had in the 2023 elections.
“Njiko Igbo Forum (NIF), a major advocacy group of the Igbo, backs the recent massive calls for electoral reforms, which majorly include the compulsory transmission of election results, particularly that of the Presidential, electronically and in real time.
“There is no amount of promises made by Tinubu to any governor or the good people of the SouthEast on infrastructure development that will sway the Igbo votes in his favour. We were promised some of these strategic infrastructures like railways and train services by the Buhari/Tinubu campaigns in 2022, but till date, railway lines are not functioning but more dilapidated and moribund than ever.
“Unfortunately, train services are perfectly and automatically working in other parts of the country than the Southeast (Igbo) geographical zone.
“The nepotistic attitude and character of Tinubu in appointing a section of this country (Yoruba) to very important strategic positions and undermining the Federal Character principles speaks volumes of what will happen if he should return for a second tenure.
“We urge every Igbo all over the country not to listen to the political rhetoric and false representations in the name of campaigns to return Tinubu in 2027.
“Presently, without much ado, Peter Obi is the only credible and nationally acceptable candidate for 2027 presidential candidate from the Southeast.
“2023 and for equity, justice, and fairness was for the Southeast, but the inordinate ambitious grabbed it and has been struggling to run with the grabbed mandate without success.”
“Njiko Igbo Forum strongly advocates that since 2027 is the last four years of the eight years for the South of Nigeria, it should be for the SouthEast.
“Let all hands be on deck to save the sinking ship (Nigeria), by giving the Southeast a chance to produce the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2027,” the statement read.
