Duru: Why the South East supports Tinubu's presidency

Nze Chidi Duru, a two-term member of the House of Representatives, is currently the National Assistant Secretary for Organization of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He spoke with LEO SOBECHI on the heels of the inauguration of Senator Kashim Shettima as the party's presidential running mate, that the South East would not miss at the table discussing the emerging presidency of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, stressing that the party has recorded many achievements in the Southeast to improve its bragging rights.

With the current noise on the Same Faith ticket, do you think APC could still emerge on the first ballot? I believe and am very confident that APC would emerge in February 2023 and retain power, government. I was one of those working with Ambassador Babagana Kingibe when he ran to become the presidential standard bearer of the SDP (Social Democratic Party). We went to Jos and we competed among others, MKO Abiola and Atiku Abubakar and we came second. And, in the collective wisdom of the party and the then presidential candidate, MKO Abiola, the lot fell on Ambassador Kingibe to be his number two. As it is today, it was also then; there was a long line of reasons why it shouldn't be, there were also reasons why a different combination should have been combined and that also hints at the possibility of Pascal Bafyau. For the politicians, what was important was to structure the mix in a way that met the party's need not only to win the election, but also to address the issue of ability, competence and leadership. address the issue of coming together to provide the common good. good for the country. It's a way of saying to the country, "we hear you, we understand what you're saying". The concerns are very legitimate; moreover, it cannot be reduced. But, we are bringing a combination that will solve all the problems we are talking about in Nigeria. What do Nigerians want? We want a government that can listen to you; we want a government that can address the concerns of Nigerians, we want a government that can stop the days of locusts. We want a government that can meet the security challenges we have in the country from today, to provide jobs, to put food on the table, to ensure that Nigerians, wherever they be, as they were then, be proud wherever they are to be called Nigerian. And that is the possibility that this combination represents for the people of Nigeria. And as we said at the end of the day the combination is open to Nigerians to say 'yes' or 'no' and there is also the alternative and it is the northern alternative which again retains the power by Atiku Abubakar. The PDP combination goes against the grain of what we knew in Nigeria that the north holds the power, it goes south, after the south it goes north. But then, in blatant disregard of that known convention, of the tradition that we know, we have a political party that has always depended on the south to retain power consistently within the political dispensation, arrogantly telling us that power must stay in the north through Atiku Abubakar. And, on top of that, the base of the PDP is the southeast and not only consider someone from the southeast, chose their vice-presidential candidate from a different area. So these are combinations that are open to the Nigerian people to make a choice and I believe when we go into the campaign, when the campaign kicks off in September, as we believe; this message is starting to get through, Nigerians will decipher and know which party best represents their interests. I believe that ultimately the will of Nigerians will prevail, whichever political party Nigerians vote for will be the political party that takes power in 2023 and we will remain with that government for the next four years. years.

Would you agree that Peter Obi's emergence in Labor amounts to a distraction from that reckoning? I think Peter Obi is a man of great reputation, he was once Governor of Anambra State and he has a band of followers at all levels and he is well regarded and respected. We have two dominant political parties in Nigeria, they are proven and successful in Nigeria and the leadership will always revolve around these two political parties. I belong to APC, we believe very strongly that APC will form the government in 2023. We believe that given the level of support and given what the candidate we have elected as our flag bearer in APC brings to the party and to the negotiations that will take place to reassure the people of the South East, that they belong to Nigeria and are part of Nigeria, that every effort will be made, and no effort will be spared to ensure that the demands of...