The 2023 Presidential election is scheduled to hold on February 25, 2023, according to the timetable from the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC. The parties are gearing up for the exercise, particularly the three leading ones, namely the All Progressives Congress (APC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP). One of the leaders of APC in the Southeast, Chief Modestus Umenzekwe, speaks with NWANOSIKE ONU on the chances of the parties and their candidates as well as well as the readiness of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the electorate for the exercise.
The 2023 elections are almost here. What do you think will happen, considering the security situation in the land?
The independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rolled out the timetable for the 2023 general election, and I must tell you that those dates remain sacrosanct unless the electoral umpire itself states otherwise. But it will not be as a result of security situation, because the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has all it takes to ensure that the security situation is ameliorated even before the period of the elections.
You should know also that the electoral umpire in every election works hand in glove with security agencies, and it is hoped that the government will unleash security personnel in those troubled areas so as to protect not just the citizens and INEC officials but also the electoral materials.
Remember that elections are not exclusive to the government. The entire citizenry are on the watch, and they will also be out to protect their various and varied interests on election days. So what we need to do as a people is to be able to give vital security information to the police so that trouble situations can be nipped in the bud.by TaboolaSponsored LinksYou May LikeForget Expensive Roofing: Prices In 2022 Might Surprise YouRoof InstallationWork A UK Job From Home in NigeriaUK JobsDo you speak English and own a mobile? Work a Canada Job from home.Work From Home Jobs
APC is faced with the arduous task of retaining power in 2023. Do you think Nigerians will entrust the party with their mandate again?
There is need for proper assessment of the goings on in the political and economic ecosystem in the country. The country is not an exception in the current challenges facing the entire world. The effect of Covid-19, the Russian-Ukrainian war, Nigeria is not exempted from the current global political and economic challenges. Now, based on the above background, you are in a better position to offer an unbiased assessment of the government of APC.
Just take a look at the infrastructural delivery of this government, never seen in the annals of this country. Take a look at the Second Niger Bridge, which previous administrations of the PDP used as a campaign tool. President Muhammadu Buhari came on board and did a yeoman’s job at the site, using the very enterprising Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), a man with the Midas touch, a man who has ensured that the six geopolitical zones of this country got attention in housing and road infrastructure.
In the area of security, the government is equally trying. My brother, let us be sincere to ourselves, without what the government is doing, the bandits, Boko Haram and the rest would have sacked the entire country. We need to commend our gallant soldiers and police who daily are awake so that we can sleep.
Yes there are challenges, but what I advise is that we need to do more. If you look at it critically you would discover, as I said before, Nigeria is not immune from the security challenges bedeviling the world. Even in America, you see some elements shooting people without reason. Look, would you have ever imagined that the Northeast would become peaceful one day? But peace has returned in that zone and former Boko Haram fighters are even taking part in social services, cleaning the environment. They have turned a new leaf. So there is hope for Nigeria as I always say.
I assure you that there is every assurance that the government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, by God’s grace, if elected, will surely replicate and take his landmark and signature achievements in Lagos to other parts of the country. Yes, trust us with your votes in 2023 and you will see a better Nigeria. The party has done remarkably well to deserve the trust of Nigerians.
There are three major contenders to the throne. What do you think are the chances of APC?
I must let you know publicly that there is only one contender to the throne. All other ones are only there to try their luck. The other candidates have nothing to offer. It is only Tinubu, who has built and raised people. It was Tinubu who raised the internal IGR of his state for close to three to four years, and he was able to weather the storm when the federal government withheld Lagos state allocations over creation of more local government development areas in his state. He paid salaries and carried out monumental projects to the envy of the Obasanjo Administration.
Beyond that, he created additional 37 LCDAs to further decentralise development in his state. Go to Lagos and see what is called development, courtesy of the roadmap and development master plan of the state which was made possible by Tinubu. So yes, we are bringing experience in our flag-bearer and other candidates from local government, state houses, House of Representatives, Senators, governors and those that will come on board as ministers and commissioners. It is a whole bouquet of experience we are bringing on board in 2023. Then you talk of the massive infrastructure delivery under the present administration.
But many of your Igbo brothers are queuing behind Peter Obi. What are the chances of Labour Party?
What is the fate of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of PDP, considering his quarrel with Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and the National Chairman of his party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu?
Why did you swap the question? The two gladiators are Atiku Abubakar and Nyesom Wike. Ayu is merely a sacrificial lamb to placate and propitiate the aggrieved combatant group. For Atiku Abubakar, he is facing several arduous tasks on his way.
Atiku Abubakar must resolve the naughty issue of southern presidency. It is a major challenge. He must resolve the hydra-headed issue of the committee he set up to select a Vice President. In the end, Wike got 14 and Okowa got three votes. He ignored the committee he set up and chose the person who came distant second. That is the reason for the ding-dong affair between him and Wike. He literally touched the tiger’s tale. If you were in Wike’s shoes you would definitely feel not just slighted but publicly assaulted.
Atiku stands no chance at all. With the emergence of Shettima as the Vice Presidential candidate of APC, a man with massive following coming from the same zone as Atiku, I must tell you that the final nail has been driven deep into the political coffin of the PDP candidate.
Among the three leading contenders, Tinubu, Atiku and Obi, who do you think will win the election?
I think I have touched on this question when I said we are coming with experience and empirically verifiable massive infrastructural delivery among other successes of this government. That is all I can say. I also told you that there is only one contender; others are just there to try. And I said Lagos is a mini Nigeria, and anybody that has governed Lagos can govern Nigeria. Tinubu did very well as governor of Lagos. Tinubu is a political institution, a prodigy and a man with inestimable political sagacity. He will run an inclusive government. The youths will find favour in his government, mark my word.
But your people in the Southeast have largely refused to embrace APC despite having political heavyweights from the zone. Why?
You are right. But things are changing. Are you aware that the zone did not vote for Buhari in his two tenures as President? Are you aware? But do you know what happened eventually? Buhari showed them love with the massive infrastructure he bequeathed to the zone—the Second Niger Bridge, Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, Oba-Okigwe Highway, Rehabilitation of Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, Zik’s mausoleum reconstruction and beautification which was used as a political sing song by the PDP led government then. It is needless chronicling what he did for the southeast zone. What I am saying is, with this demonstration of love by the President, he has been able to win more converts to the party. You will see that our vote in the Southeast will soar in 2023.
Do you think election will hold in Igbo land with the threats from some groups?
The election will hold. My people, for all I know, are peace loving people. I don’t think they will deliberately impede anything that will bring progress in the land. There are agitations, not just in Igbo land, but all across the nation. I believe there is a need for a holistic discussion on the Nigeria question, issue of self-determination, restructuring, inclusivity in governance, youth and women involvement in politics and all that, a whole lot. But there is need for planning and making sure that when that time comes, you do that by making sure you go to the negotiating table with your best eleven, making sure your people are not taken for granted.
What we need is good governance, inclusivity. It is necessary to bring everybody to a negotiation table and bring peace to the land. Insecurity is not only in Igboland but it touches the whole nation and indeed the world at large. Yes, whether election will hold in the Southeast; it will hold. I pray for peace, not just for my people of Igbo extraction, but the nation as a whole.
Has APC done any good thing to deserve another chance from the electorate?
They have done a lot which, of course, I have stated in one of your questions above. APC has done a lot and deserves another chance. Let me tell you, if you go to the different states of the Federation, you will see what our state governors are doing. Go to Borno State and see what Governor Zulum is doing. The entire Southwest states, especially the Centre of Excellence, Lagos, the six geopolitical zones where APC is in charge, there is remarkable difference from the opposition party controlled states. At the federal level, the evidence is there as I mentioned earlier.
Do you have confidence in INEC to give Nigerians a free, fair and credible election?
I will give you a direct answer here. Since the history of electoral umpire in this country, this particular INEC headed by very sound and erudite Professor Mahmood Yakubu has earned my 100% admiration and confidence. Check out the elections he has conducted in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun, he did them seamlessly and without rancor. That is the hallmark of a man of integrity. He also, in spite of pressure from desperate politicians, made sure that the new electoral law is fine-tuned as passed into law. Today, manipulation of election results has been reduced commendably. The recent voter registration was conducted efficiently and effectively. INEC has brought back confidence in the electoral process. So I sincerely believe that our people should repose confidence in INEC in its ability to conduct a faultless election in the country in 2023.
Campaigns will start soon, how ready is your party in Anambra and Southeast?
We are ever ready as a party and as a people. Nigeria is ready. You observed how peacefully our party primaries were organised, from state level to the national level, rancour-free. So our party’s readiness and strategy in Anambra and the entire southeast is personal to us, and I am not going to divulge our modus operandi to deliver the zone to APC this time around.
END
Be the first to comment