• Vow to resist balkanization of region’s votes by selfish individual interests

• Uzodinma: “We can no longer afford political isolation”

• Mbah: Endorsement rooted in collective interest, already accruing gains

Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South East region have endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term in office, saying that pragmatic politics based on bridge-building, partnership, and aligning with the centre to sustain the gains accruing from the president’ administration had become an imperative for the Igbo nation.

They vowed to mobilise massive votes for his re-election in the 2027 general election.

They committed to promoting a collective rather than any individual’s interest capable of dissipating Igbo vote and weaken the region’s bargaining power.

Enugu State Governor Dr Peter Mbsh addressing the APC stakeholders during the meeting in Enugu on Saturday

The endorsement was the climax of the South East APC Stakeholders’ Meeting, tagged “Izu Umunna), which held at the iconic Presidential Hotel, Enugu, where party leaders, governors, lawmakers, elders and critical stakeholders from across the zone reviewed the region’s political trajectory and resolved to align fully with the ruling party at the centre.

Speaking Saturday at the meeting, Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, who doubles as the Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum said President Tinubu had entrusted the political future of his re-election to the South East region, saying it was an honour and a responsibility.

According to Uzodinma, the South East could no longer afford political isolation, noting that the region’s meager contribution to APC’s victory in the 2023 presidential poll dealt a great blow its bargaining power at the national level.

He said that while other zones contributed between 34 and 54 per cent of votes to the APC in 2023, the South East recorded about six per cent, a situation he described as politically unsustainable.

According to him, the political tide in the region has since changed, pointing to the growing strength of the APC in the South East when the party now controls three out of the five states, while its representation in the Senate had risen from six to eight senators, with region’s APC lawmakers in the House of Representatives had moved from eight to 23.

“These numbers give us hope, but they also give us a challenge,” Uzodimma said.

“The growth we see among leaders must reflect at the ballot box in 2027. Politics is pay as you earn. No zone can produce a president alone, and if we continue to vote provincially, we will remain on the sidelines of national power,” he added.

Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, in his address, described the endorsement of President Tinubu and the increasing alignment of the South East with the APC as a “paradigm shift grounded in pragmatism.”

He said the region had moved from “standing at the crossroads of history to shaping history itself.”

Mbah said the decision to support Tinubu’s re-election was rooted in facts, vision and the tangible benefits already accruing to the region from alignment with the centre.

He cited federal projects such as the revival of the Eastern Railway corridor that is now receiving attention, gas and energy development initiatives in the region, and the approval of the concession of the Enugu Airport, which he said would position the state as an international gateway for the South East.

“The Renewed Hope Agenda is beyond a political slogan,” Mbah said. “It is about aligning vision at the centre with delivery at the states. These are not symbolic gestures but strategic decisions that show a federal leadership committed to inclusive governance.”

Also speaking, Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State expressed confidence that by 2027 all governors in the South East would be members of the APC.

He urged party leaders to embrace reconciliation and sacrifice, noting that the influx of new members required effective internal management rather than further party building.

“I want to urge our leaders that we need to forgive one another and make a lot of sacrifices so that those that are joining us now will have a place in our party,” Nwifuru said.

The motion endorsing President Tinubu for a second term was formally moved by former Senate President, Senator Pius Anyim, and seconded by former President of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani, who described the decision as courageous and strategic.

He stressed that the complaint about margination could continue longer than necessary if the South East failed to play the right politics, likening it to crying in the rain.

“If you cry in the rain, nobody would notice you. If you want to avoid the rain, you must enter the shade,” he enjoined the South East people.

The meeting concluded with the presentation of a communique signed by the governors, party leaders, and stakeholders, who unanimously declared their total support for President Tinubu as the APC’s sole presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.

They rejected what they termed as ego-driven and divisive politics, suing for unity of purpose among political leaders and the wider Igbo population.

“The people of the South-East Zone categorically dissociate themselves from all activities motivated by the self-serving interests of any individual, however highly placed. We affirm that the progress of our zone and our great party cannot be achieved through narrow personal ambitions or actions that fracture collective unity.

“Any such conduct shall henceforth be regarded as contrary to our shared aspirations and will receive neither endorsement nor support from our zone.

“The political leadership of the South-East has resolved, in the supreme interest of Ndi Igbo, that never again will we allow personal ego and motivated actions to influence the fate of the Zone. in this regard, the South-East will join other zones in supporting the ruling party, wherein our leaders can effectively negotiate better representation and interests of our people,” they stated.

They urged Ndigbo within and outside Nigeria to embrace the APC as the most viable platform for advancing the region’s political and economic interests, warning that scattering votes across multiple parties had historically weakened the South East’s influence at the national level.

They further pledged to mobilise human, material and political resources to deliver bloc votes for Tinubu across the five South East states in 2027, with specific responsibilities assigned to governors for coordination and mobilisation within and across states.

Other prominent figures at the meeting included the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu; former Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Ikedi Ohakim, among several senators, lawmakers and party elders from the zone.