Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress APC,South East Zone,,Nigeria, Saturday,10 January gathered in Enugu for their stakeholders’ meeting tagged “Izu umunne” to deliberate on the position of the South East zone politically in the country., endorsing President Bola Tinubu for second tenure come 2027.
The stakeholders comprising the governor of Imo state, Hope Uzodinma, his Ebonyi state counterpart, Francis Nwifuru and the host governor, Dr Peter Mbah of Enugu state , former governor of Enugu state ,RT Hon ( Dr. ) Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, former senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, former senate president Senator Ken Nnamani, Deputy speaker ,House of Representatives’,Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, serving and past National Assembly members, State House of Assembly members, serving and past Local government chairmen, ministers and party faithful at the meeting, unanimously, adopted President Bola Tinubu, as their sole candidate for the 2027 Presidential election, appealing to the electorate in the South South Region and Nigeria to support him.
Party leaders during the meeting
Speaking at the meeting ,the Governor of Enugu state, Dr. Peter Mbah said the endorsement of President Tinubu and the increasing alignment of the Southeast with the APC was a “paradigm shift grounded in pragmatism.”
He said the region had moved from “standing at the crossroads of history to shaping history itself.”
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu state, justifying his movement to APC
According to him, the decision to support Tinubu’s re-election was rooted in facts, vision and the tangible benefits already accruing to the region from alignment with the centre.
He cited federal projects such as the revival of the Eastern Railway corridor, gas and energy development initiatives in the region, and the approval of the concession of the Enugu Airport, which he said would position the state as an international gateway for the Southeast.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda is beyond a political slogan,” Mbah said. “It is about aligning vision at the centre with delivery at the states. These are not symbolic gestures but strategic decisions that show a federal leadership committed to inclusive governance.”
In his speech, the Governor of Ebonyi state, Francis Nwifuru was optimistic that by 2027 all governors in the Southeast would be members of the APC.
He urged party leaders to embrace reconciliation and sacrifice, noting that the influx of new members required effective internal management rather than further party building.
“I want to urge our leaders that we need to forgive one another and make a lot so that those that are joining us now will have a place in our party. Like I promised our people in Ebonyi State that now that we have one party, the only struggle now how to manage the party and not how to build the party again. It is the same in every other state in the Southeast,” he said.
Speaking also, the leader of the Progressive Governors and Governor of Imo state, Senator Hope Uzodimma, who is also the Chairman of the Southeast Governors’ Forum and Director-General of the APC 2027 election project, said President Tinubu had entrusted the political future of his re-election to the Southeast, describing it as both an honour and a responsibility.
He noted that the Southeast could no longer afford political isolation, stressing that the region’s marginal contribution to APC’s victory in the 2023 presidential election weakened its bargaining power at the national level.
He said while other zones contributed between 34 and 54 per cent of votes to the APC in 2023, the Southeast recorded about six per cent, a situation he described as politically unsustainable.to him, the political tide in the region has since changed, pointing to the growing strength of the APC in the Southeast.
Uzodinma noted that the APC controls three out of the five Southeast states, from two in 2023 and three in 2026 while its representation in the Senate has risen from six to eight senators. He added that APC lawmakers in the House of Representatives from the zone have also increased from eight to 23.
“These numbers give us hope, but they also give us a challenge,” Uzodimma said. “The growth we see among leaders must reflect at the ballot box in 2027. Politics is pay as you earn. No zone can produce a president alone, and if we continue to vote provincially, we will remain on the sidelines of national power.”
He declared that President Tinubu deserved a second term to complete the economic and security reforms initiated by his administration, citing improvements in foreign exchange stability, security, access to student loans through NELFUND, infrastructure development and economic reforms that previous governments avoided.
Earlier, the Acting chairman of the APC in Enugu state, Dr. Ben. Nwoye commended party members for their support. He warned that there is opposition in Enugu state, and was quick to add that while the opposition will be talking about what they will do for the people, they in APC will be listing what Governor Mbah had done for the people in education, health and other sectors.
There were speeches from the representative of the senators, senator Nwaebonyi from Ebonyi state, the Deputy Speaker and representative of the House of Representatives’ members , Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, and the representative of the ministers, RT. Hon Onyejiocha . They all threw support for President Tinubu, calling for the support from the people of the south East zone.
A motion endorsing President Tinubu for a second term was moved by the former Senate President, Senator Pius Anyim, and seconded by former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, who described the decision as courageous and strategic, saying “if you want to avoid the rain, you must enter the shade”.
The stakeholders issued a communiqué at the end of the meeting, unanimously endorsing President Tinubu as the APC’s sole presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.
The communiqué rejected what it described as ego-driven and divisive politics, calling for unity of purpose among political leaders and the wider Igbo population.
The stakeholders urged Ndi Igbo within and outside Nigeria to embrace the APC as the most viable platform for advancing the region’s political and economic interests, warning that scattering votes across multiple parties had historically weakened the Southeast’s influence at the national level.
They said they would to mobilise human, material and political resources to deliver bloc votes for Tinubu across the five Southeastern states in 2027, with specific responsibilities assigned to governors for coordination and mobilisation within and across states.
The meeting called for sustained unity, voter mobilisation and strategic engagement ahead of the 2027 general elections, saying that the region had “spoken with one voice” in support of President Tinu
