By Ebuka Onyekwelu, PhD
From the outset, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra State, was emphatic about where he stands on the 2027 Presidential Election. The Governor firmly supports President Bola Tinubu. In National and State Assembly elections, his support for APGA is similarly clear. Support for candidates of choice in any election is the right and prerogative of every individual and cannot be taken away. However, beyond this right, how Governor Soludo is vigorously campaigning for President Tinubu’s re-election is a turning point in the Southeast’s political engagement since 2015. Before now, what we have in the political space was a monologue, dominated by tyrants who decorate their political choices as the best for the nation. More than a decade has now passed, and it is getting even more scary.
Without doubt, Ndi Igbo can play national politics of engagement with the APC, rather than the politics of isolation embraced since 2015.
The national political alliance of the Southeast collapsed with the PDP’s failure to win the Presidency in 2015, and since then, the Southeast has not regained its national relevance in the country’s political equation. The APC national alliance stands on two legs: one is the Northwest and the other is the Southwest. This alliance is so formidable that the APC can comfortably bid for and successfully win the presidency in Nigeria without a single vote from both the Southeast and its closest ally, the South-South, both of which lost their stake in national politics after the 2015 presidential election. However, while the Southeast resorted to opposition, tantrums, and accusations as an approach to national politics, the South-South immediately moved on, swiftly reconnecting with the centre under the APC. This reconnection was so significant that by the next election cycle in 2019, APC won the Bayelsa State Governorship Election in a widely acclaimed free, fair, and credible contest. In contrast, no APC candidate has won any election in a place like Anambra State over the same period, due to a strong sense of disconnect towards the APC.
Since 2015, the Southeast has continued to isolate itself. This is especially strong in Anambra State, where some people believe that somehow, they can either do without Nigeria or they can do without other Nigerians in building national political consensus that can usher in a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction.
Between 2015 and 2027, no governor of any Southeastern state has been as fierce in his support for an APC Presidential candidate as Professor Soludo has been, ahead of the 2027 Presidential Election, and that makes the difference. Given the level of popular emotional blackmail, many Southeast governors opt for the easy way. They only support the APC low-key and play safe to avert possible electoral consequences. This is the same thing many people are telling Governor Soludo today, asking him to play safe so that there won’t be consequences for APGA candidates in the National and State Assembly elections. But that, at best, is the fear of the unknown, which generally is unreal. Interestingly, none of thosw suggesting that “Soludo should take it easy” seem worried about the consequences of Nigeria consistently producing a President since 2015 without notable input from the Southeast. Is this anti-APC stance a viable and strategic option for Ndi Igbo or Ndi Anambra? This is why Professor Soludo’s admonition on Sunday during the Anambra coalition stakeholders meeting that losing has consequence, must be taken into a deep reflection.
Soludo’s bold and emphatic campaign for President Tinubu’s re-election has clearly paved a new pathway for the Southeast into the mainstream national politics, as the viable option. After over 10 years of opposition and playing safe with nothing to show except more confusion and self-isolation, Professor Soludo’s politics of national consensus offers a breath of fresh air for many Southeasterners in search of answers on how best to politically engage their country and compatriots.
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