Denying South East PDP, APC presidential tickets another case of marginalisation, group insists

The Association of South East Town Union (ASETU) has condemned the outcome of the recently concluded presidential primary elections of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for failing to produce a south easterner as their presidential candidates.

National President of ASETU, Chief Emeka Diwe, said the outcome of the primaries vividly confirms the continuous cry over the years regarding the marginalisation of Ndigbo within the Nigerian polity.

He said: “For us, there could be no better time to ensure that Igbo man deservedly becomes the President of Nigeria than now.

“This is so because going by the constitutions of the major political parties, they were expected to zone the president to the South this time. In the South, also South East was to be the automatic beneficiary being the only zone that has not tasted either the exalted position of the President or Vice President since the democratic dispensation that started in 1999.

“The South West has had the President for eight years and Vice President for eight years by May 29, 2023; the South South had the President for six years and the Vice President for two years, leaving the South East with none. It is only equitable, just and fair that the South East produces the next President of Nigeria, which begins with all the political parties fielding an Igbo presidential candidate.

“The Igbo had made such concession to the Yoruba in the past. But the deep rooted hatred for Ndigbo by other tribes in Nigeria has played out, hence the ruling APC and PDP refused to cede their presidential tickets to the South East, rather they went to yet another northerner for PDP and a Yoruba for APC.”

Diwe continued: “Such brazen injustice and marginalisation have received regular mention by agitation groups both in the South East and other regions.

“We, however, doff our hats for Igbo aspirants, particularly Dr. Ogbonanya Onu and others for their courage and boldness in speaking out against injustice meted to the South East during their speeches at the primary elections.

“In addition, the party primaries have also exposed the real saboteurs in Igbo land. These are the South East delegates who were chosen to represent Ndigbo but went there to fest their nests. They practically sold out their Igbo brothers and voted for aspirants of other regions obviously because of money.

“Records showed that five South Eastern states had about 389 delegates’ votes in the case of the APC. Of this number, Ebonyi State had 39 delegates, Imo 100, Anambra 100, Abia 100 and Enugu 50 votes. But shamefully, only 40 votes from this number went to South East aspirants. It is important to mention that 39 of the 40 votes came from Ebonyi State delegates.”