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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Obi: Zoning Not In Jonathan/ Igbo Govs ’ Deal (652 Views)
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Obi: Zoning Not In Jonathan/ Igbo Govs ’ Deal by Dotman01(m): 1:02pm On May 22, 2011 |
Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State provides some insight into the deal President Goodluck Jonathan had with governors of the South-East geo-political zone ahead of the April polls vis-a-vis the raging controversy over zoning. Obi also speaks, in this interview, on issues relating to the polls, his administration and the Anambra polity. The Ikemba, Chief Odumegwu- Ojukwu, is a formidable force in Anambra politics. He was around during your re-election, when he asked Igbo to vote for you as his “ last wish”. Unfortunately he was not around during the last election. To what extent would you say his absence affected the outcome? Well, he was around in 2003 when we won our victory. He was around in 2007 when we won everything and were denied everything. He was around in 2010 when we won the re- election. This time round, he was unavoidably absent because he was not well. If he was around, he wouldn ’t have changed the result of the election. Whether he is there or not, people know he is with us. They see him in me. Taking your performance into account in the last election, how do you see the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the next four years, especially in the South-East? Our party is entrenched with the people of Anambra State. Look at all the big names. How many of them are with APGA? All these big names are on one side. For us to win them in the 2010 election and this recent one where we took the number we did, this will tell you that we are more formidable than most people think. Remember we were operating with zero number of members of the House of Assembly, zero number of members of our party in the House of Representatives, zero in the Senate. To have come from there to here where all the heavyweights could not stop us, then you can conclude that this party ’s growth is on the upswing. *Gov Peter Obi People have this impression that you have not done much to contribute to the growth of APGA in the South-East all these years, unlike Bola Tinubu, who has now recovered the South-West from PDP and is forging ahead in other parts of the country with his Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). You did not seem to have done much in terms of financing your party outside Anambra State. I won’t say much about my contributions to the growth of the party financially. If you measure the income of Anambra State and compare it with the income of other states, then you will be amazed at how much we have been able to do in developing the state, and why we may not be as free with political funding as others. In Nigeria, we don ’t compare like with like. You don’t compare New York Times with a newspaper in a small state like Arkansas, which has a budget about a 10th the size of the budget of New York. People like to compare one state with another without looking at the relative monthly incomes each of them has to “play” with. If you compare what some of the big- budget states have done with their income and what we have done with the little we get, you will agree with me that we have done far better than some of them. You have to look at other factors attached. Some of these governors were in office for eight unbroken years without being impeached. Our mandate was stolen. When we eventually recovered it we were impeached. We have suffered an uncommonly hostile political environment here, but I ’m glad we are now on the move. Even Ikemba faced a similar problem. He was never able to win elections, even in Nnewi, his local government area. In 2003, we lost; in 2007, we lost. During the re-election, last year, we lost. But, during the 2011 general elections, we won in Nnewi. For you to know how strong you are in the state as a party, there are key areas you have to win. Awka North and South Federal Constituency we won, Onitsha North and South Federal Constituency we won; Nnewi North and South Federal Constituency, we won. These are the key areas of the state. We ’ve done very well as a party, and someone was responsible for the effort, together with the rest of the party ’s leadership. I want to take you away from elections stuff. In the build-up to the elections, APGA came out and endorsed the PDP presidential candidate, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. You said the endorsement was based on an agreement with the president. PDP has decided to give the Speaker, House of Representatives to the South- West against the wishes of the South-East. The question is, what was the deal? We made that endorsement based on a deal we had with President Jonathan. The South- East agreed unanimously not to contest the post of the presidency and the vice-presidency. We agreed to support a candidate who best accommodates the interests of the South-East. When we looked into the programmes of all the candidates, their promises, what they said they would do, we were persuaded by the prospects of Jonathan. So, we called on our people to support him, and our people came out in large numbers to support him during the presidential election with five million votes from the South-East alone. The question you asked is, what deal did we agree with the President. I have to differentiate between the deal we, as governors and leaders of the South- East had with him and the internal PDP arrangement on zoning of political offices. When we were talking with Jonathan, we were not talking about the PDP zoning formula for sharing political offices. What we concerned ourselves with was what was there for the people of the South- East; what was there for the people of the country at large. Throughout his campaign, he stressed he would make sure that the Enugu Airport is converted to an international airport because the people deserve it. He said: ‘I will build the Second Niger Bridge, I will help tackle erosion, which is a big problem in the zone, I will increase power generation and extend it equitably to the South-East because your people are entrepreneurs ’. These are programmes that will impact directly on the people of the zone, and the country at large. And he is already doing some of these things, just as agreed. You should be asking PDP leaders from this zone what they have gotten for their people. I didn ’t go there looking for what individuals will benefit. I was thinking of what will benefit my people. Any road you pass through in Anambra that is not good today is a federal road. These are things he promised he’d do. These are things I’ll want him to do for our people. It is our brothers and sisters who are members and leaders of PDP that will have to bother about office sharing. |
Re: Obi: Zoning Not In Jonathan/ Igbo Govs ’ Deal by Dotman01(m): 1:04pm On May 22, 2011 |
continue reading it here: www.vanguardngr.com/2011/05/obi-zoning-not-in-jonathanigbo-govs’-deal/ |
Re: Obi: Zoning Not In Jonathan/ Igbo Govs ’ Deal by newsng: 4:43pm On May 24, 2011 |
This zoning stuff sef don tire person. democrazy na wetin we dey into nw. n a wa oh. read other versions of this story from Newsng.com, [url]http://newsng.com/story-detail.php?title=Obi:-Zoning-not-in-Jonathan/Igbo-govs%E2%80%99-deal-&story=9203218d61[/url] |
Re: Obi: Zoning Not In Jonathan/ Igbo Govs ’ Deal by nwaafo1: 6:27pm On May 24, 2011 |
Dotman01:continue reading what? after this ur long vertical post. i didnt even read ur own let alone going to ur "continue reading" |
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