The South East Mobilizers (SEM), an All Progressives Congress (APC) support group for the Tinubu-Shettima presidency has repudiated an imaginary group, the National Association of Igbo Youths (NAIY), over its intransigence that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu was partnering with the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu, for next month’s election.

One of Tinubu’s campaign spokesperson, Dr. Josef Onoh, had said that the APC presidential candidate built a working partnership with Ugwuanyi when Tinubu campaigned in Enugu last week.

But the NAIY in a press statement, on Monday, lashed out at Onoh for saying that Ugwuanyi and Tinubu are partners in progress, suggesting that Onoh did not represent very well what transpired between Ugwuanyi and Tinubu when the APC presidential candidate campaigned in Enugu.

Responding to the youths, the SEM Publicity Secretary, Prof. Aham Ezekaude described the NAIY as a faceless group that does not have existence nor relevance for response.

SEM, however, noted that for the sake of Tinubu’s passion for building a united and prosperous country, it needed to clarify what partnership in progress with like mind Nigerians means to Tinubu

The Tinubu-Shettima mobilizers stated that a political partnership in progress as referred to by Dr. Onoh was a fundamental ingredient for good governance, noting that good governance requires building effective
partnerships of institutions, politicians, political institutions, individuals, organisations, and networks to tackle
emerging global, national, and local issues that affect a country, state, zone, community, or organisation.

“This partnership process involves increasing more participation and interaction among government, the private sector, civil society organizations and key stakeholders to work towards mutual interests and mutual goals for all parties to achieve success and shared visions.”

Ezekaude stated that it was obvious that the present political participative engagements in Nigeria ushered in young vibrant citizens that will not only queue at voting booths in 2023 elections, but are also taking to the streets and using modern communication technology to select, sanction, and pressure political leaders and representatives who wield power within government.

“This political engagement can function in highly nuanced ways even within the same formal institutional context and across the political spectrum, from autocracies to democracies.

“Political engagement becomes unhealthy when leaders are selected and sanctioned on the basis of their provision of private benefits rather than public goods, giving rise to a range of government failures as clearly demonstrated by the so called faceless national association of Igbo youths, whom couldn’t differentiate between the use of the word ‘our latest partner in progress’ as used by Dr. Onoh and interpreted same to mean ‘a political endorsement’ by the Enugu state governor for Tinubu.

“This is a sad case of lack of patience and deligence, as they were quick to react to various individual unregulated blog headlines without reading the full contents of the publication which would have saved them the embarrassment as no part of the publication suggested that the Enugu state Governor endorsed Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

“It’s not our business to represent or speak on behalf of the Governor, especially his personal choice of endorsement which will be exercised in his polling unit on election day by casting his vote for any Presidential candidate of his choice but the so called youths were quick to hurl insults on Dr. Josef Onoh, the southeast spokesman of the BAT PCC.

“The so-called youths exposed their lack of intellectual foundation with nothing to promote in the southeast region. The solution to these failures lies in fostering healthy political engagement within any institutional context and not in circumventing or suppressing it. Access to publicly available information about the actions of those in government and the consequences of these actions can play a crucial role by nourishing political engagement rather than unguarded, uncultured, and crude attacks on individuals who only mean well for their region.

“The APC led government, despite the lack of support it got from the southeast from 2015 till date, did not stop the administration from listening to the pleas of their various state governors and executed various legacy projects in the region since 1999, yet it did not equate to endorsement of the APC- led government by the opposition southeast states, rather they were partners in progress and a partnership that has benefited the region.

“It’s only wise that all political leaders and stakeholders in the southeast region patner with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to usher a new administration that will continue the progress the Buhari-led administration has attracted to the southeast,” the APC group advised.