thatsleepboy1:
Let the truth be told

Brilliant post.

2 things I think you failed to acknowledge though

1. One of the reasons the numbers in the SS and SE have gone down since 2015 is because the figures especially from the SS were always inflated and it became harder to “write” results with the introduction of the pvc and card reader

Secondly a problem the Ibos have as a block vote is that they are dispersed all over Nigeria more than any other tribe and unlike in the past when people especially Ibos went back home to vote, Ibos now vote where they reside. The result of this is that the overall vote counted as coming from the SE has gone down and therefore they are not given the status their actual population deserve. Secondly because they are settlers and dispersed all over Nigeria, they do not as at today constitute enough of a block to influence the result in the states they reside with the exception of Lagos. I think these are also reasons why the Ibo vote has been diluted and less impactful.

If it comes to politics of inclusion, I give it to PDP and that is why no matter what anyone says, comparing PDP with APC is like comparing life with death.
Ordinary convention APC is finding difficult to organise because they often want to give advantage to few persons at the expense of other party members.
Look at the PDP zoning committee, it is all encompassing. They deliberately brought all the stakeholders or representatives of all major stakeholders of the party from the 36 State and FCT to discuss and resolve this nagging issue of zoning and once agreement is reached, typical PDP way is that everyone follows the decision of the party. Its commendable how PDP runs its affairs.

abobote:
PDP is not ready to take over in 2023.
Wike is bullying them, even when he knows he can't win election outside Rivers State.
Is only Atiku that can give PDP a winning chance in 2023

. For sure.

[quote author=ppeessuu post=111290541]The best for PDP is to Zone the presidency to the south west like APC and picks the likes of Akinwunmi Asesina .[/quote. We are talking of someone who can win bulk votes in the north. Definitely, PDP will clinch SS and SE. It's only Atiku who can do it. He has everything to win it.

abobote:
PDP is not ready to take over in 2023.
Wike is bullying them, even when he knows he can't win election outside Rivers State.
Is only Atiku that can give PDP a winning chance in 2023

Abubakar Atiku is the only person that can match Bola Ahmed Tinubu bumper to bumper.

I even surprised for that zoning zoning matter of PDP, so now they want zone it to where? clearly indication show that for all southeast they is no any player that can win the Presidential election in 2023, likewise in south south, the only region that has key player are southwest and north, let us administer justice to key one who are able.

What do you need a 37 member committee for

Zone it to the north, you lose

Zone it to the south you stand a chance

I prefer south east/ north central ticket for PDP

Give it to the IGBOs let their money and clout do the rest of the work for them.

If they lose, it’s not PDP’s fault, they have been loyal to PDP and PDP has reciprocated

Starting the history of apex political leadership of Nigeria from 1999, instead of from 1960, that's the falsehood which Atiku and his northern presidential aspirants now are applying.
North ruled Nigeria more than 70% of its independence.

abobote:
PDP is not ready to take over in 2023.
Wike is bullying them, even when he knows he can't win election outside Rivers State.
Is only Atiku that can give PDP a winning chance in 2023

Suddenly, PDP lapdogs do not care about another Fulani ruling us again. We will give the PDP same thing they threw at Buhari. We will not allow Fulanirization of Nigeria. We are not slaves...

thatsleepboy1:
Let the truth be told


The recent agitation by South Eastern part of the country to hold the highest office in the land is very genuine and must be given all the necessary support to see it come to pass however, I hold some reservations about how SE plays politics as a whole. One of the greatest weapon used to establish dominance in politics is numerical strength, when all is said and done, a people can only be invited to the negotiation table on the strength of their voting power. It does not matter how sympathetic their story sounds, what matters most is what can they offer? I have closely looked at the numbers that come in from the SE in every election for the past 20 years, and I can say for sure that they suffer from voter apathy.

The most disturbing for me was even the 2015 general elections. I watched the live collation on TV, while Buhari massively got block votes from the north, I was expecting the Southern states particularly the SS and SE to come through looking at how much they benefitted from the govt. Unfortunately they failed GEJ, there was massive voters registration but the number of voters was nothing to write home about. All sort of flimsy excuses came with this but nothing can justify that. SS on the other hand came through for their son, Rivers alone gave him 1.4 million votes which was what Abia, Enugu and Anambra gave him in total. You just compare the votes of the total number of registered votes and that of casted and you would be angry.

Fast forward to 2019 when PDP picked it’s VP from the SE, the behavior of their leaders was nauseating. They were acting like Peter Obi was not their son, infact they even gave Buhari more votes than they did in 2015 with their son being on the ticket. All Politicians across both parties were watching and observing. Some of these political decisions matters alot.

The south west have become a major political broker today because they have shown the north they can bring up the numbers when ever it is needed to win any elections. GEJ did it with Tinubu in 2011 it worked, Buhari did it with Tinubu in 2015 and 2019 and it worked.

The next most important region in terms of political alignment after SW is the SS. They have shown seriousness and political strength since 2015. The alignment of Ameachi with Buhari while GEJ ran for President made them very prominent in the polity. Fast forward to 2019 while Ameachi maintain his alignment with Buhari Wike on the other hand took the center stage in the PDP and even addent cririce of Buhair like Akpabio joined the Progressives. Omo Agege came to prominence being the DSP, men like Oshiomole came lime light on his strength of controversy and governors like Okowa were always in the news for commissioning one projects or the other. These things made SS politicians active players on the national scene. The question is where are SE politicians in all this?

I know the next answer would be marginalization which has been the easier route out of this argument all the time but enough is enough. Aside their political apathy, they have consistently failed to break the jinx to join the national politics. They demonize those who joined the APC and have refused to actively get involved in the PDP as they should. On some days they claim they have a regional party which is APGA but it exist actively in one state which is Anambra.
While I maintain having a regional party is a very good strategy politically but it must be done with all seriousness like we saw what Tinubu did with ACN in SW and what PMB did with CPC in the North. Regional party politics If done properly have a way of portraying political unity and strength of a region, the ACN and SW are a typical example.

While the North have bowed to the political leadership of PMB, like the west did to Asiwaju, the SE have totally refused the leadership of anyone, they demonize all their sons who have risen to prominence eg Rochas, Peter Obi etc. At the moment, Nnamdi Kanu is the only one prominent Igbo son who have demonstrated an uncommon influence over the Igbo race globally, unfortunately he has used it for another thing. The anger about marginalization is supposed to be used to make a political statement not cause havoc on his own people. Shutting down businesses, killing one another and making your own children miss NECO and WAEC exams ends up hurting your People not PMB.

These decisions must be reviewed, worst still is even asking them to abstain from voting. This did more damage to the Igbo nation than anything. If Mazi Kanu have spent the last 4 years building APGA party in the SE, with his cult like followership he would have at least 3 states under the control of APGA. Or if he has spent his time mobilizing for Peter Obi in 2019 maybe they would have won. If the SE can all be APGA, they would have a strong negotiating and bargaining power with the both parties and they would get all they want, then when the time is right they would just collapse their structures into one of the national parties and they would change their political state.

It’s not vodu or anything but it’s almost impossible for any of the parties to give SE the ticket for obvious reasons. For the APC, the argument would be they have not gotten enough support from the region, while the PDP would review their level of support when they were on the ticket in 2019. The south east must remember that What matters to every political party is winning an election not being sympathetic to the course of any region. Every region must put itself at a political advantage that would favour them not always shouting fowl. The reason why the north has remain a bride in the polity is her numerical strength and dexterity.

I must at this point salute great Igbo sons who have played national politics and contributed greatly to our nation, men like Senators Rochas, Abaribe, Ikweramadu, Uzodinma, Ngige, Orji Kalu, Ben Obi, Pius Anyim etc regardless of how we all feel about these men, they are prominent and well respected Igbo men that we all should be proud of. Some of these men like Peter Obi, Ben Obi, or Pius can make a good president but so much work need to be done regionally to position the SE for the office.

Politically the East have so much to learn from the SW and until that is done, no one would give them Power unless they make a strong political statement. Mazi Kanu have the chance to make history with his influence in this regard.

To conclude, it is only hypocritical for the SE as people to keep preaching against one Nigeria or the Nigerian state but yet want to rule the country. There has to be a change in attitude towards the Nigerian state, if you are asking for Biafra then remain on it, if you want to be president then maintain that. I can’t deny that the Nigerian state have failed to address some of the injustice done to the Igbo nation but these approached won’t solve the issue. I have nothing against the Igbos, infact I have too many Igbo friends in my life but these tides must change.The SW and SS seem to be politically ahead and the SE must get it right to ensure they take what belongs to them.

Priceless piece of information