• Abia APC chieftain explains why Ndigbo are rallying support for Tinubu
• Ebonyi ADC chair rallies Nigerians to support party

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, a group of Igbo leaders under the auspices of Igbo Agenda Dialogue (IAD), led by elder statesman, Chekwas Okorie, yesterday, unveiled a renewed political mobilisation strategy for Ndigbo, saying that the end of the 1970 war did not translate into genuine reconciliation and integration.
 
Okorie stated that though the Biafra-Nigeria war officially ended 56 years ago with the declaration of “no victor, no vanquished,” the posture had since been abandoned by successive governments at the centre, thereby pushing the Igbo to the receiving end.
 
Addressing a press briefing in Enugu, Okorie accused successive governments of deliberately marginalising the Igbo through the neglect of critical infrastructure and exclusion from key national appointments.
 
“The scars of that unfortunate war still fester today because the policies meant to heal the wounds were deliberately reversed. Reconciliation, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation were proclaimed, but were largely ignored. Our legitimate cries against marginalisation attracted ridicule instead of empathy. The result has been decades of frustration for our people,” Okorie stated.
 
Explaining that the new group would provide fresh direction for Ndigbo, he lamented that the prolonged exclusion had driven some Igbo youths to embrace separatist agitations, resulting in economic disruptions and avoidable loss of lives in the region and South-South.
 
“The response of the Federal Government of Nigeria to the legitimate protests and actions of our angry youths was to deploy troops armed with the most coercive weapons of mass destruction to conquer and decimate the protesters rather than resort to the option of non-kinetic engagements with the youths as is the case with the terrorists that are waging open war against the country in parts of Nigeria,” he added.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Prince Paul Ikonne, has explained that the growing nationwide mobilisation of Ndigbo in support of President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election is driven by the desire to end political isolation, protect economic interests, and reposition the South-East at the centre of national power.
 
Ikonne, the immediate past Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), said South-East leaders have taken a strategic decision to actively campaign for Tinubu across the country, insisting that political relevance and economic survival are tied to alignment with the Federal Government.
 
Speaking on TVC’s Politics Tonight on Tuesday, Ikonne said the mobilisation extends beyond the South-East, with deliberate efforts to engage Igbo living in other regions of the country.
 
According to Ikonne, the South-East’s strong economic footprint across Nigeria makes it imperative for the region to maintain a constructive relationship with the government at the centre.

However, the Ebonyi State Chapter Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mrs Jennifer Adibe, on Tuesday, pleaded with Nigerians to vote ADC in the 2027 general election, maintaining that ADC will do things differently to address the socio-economic and security challenges facing the country.
 
Adibe stated this at Umuebe, Ezzangbo Ohaukwu Local Council of Ebonyi State, during an extraordinary and critical stakeholders meeting of the party. She expressed disappointment over the precarious economic situation in Nigeria, especially under the much-touted Renewed Hope Agenda of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), noting that it is time to change the narrative to make the system work effectively.
 
According to Adibe, it is time for the ADC to take over power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and do things differently to address the socio-economic challenges of Nigerians.