A prominent chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Prince Paul Ikonne, has claimed that Governor Alex Otti’s failure or refusal to follow Peter Obi to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) stemmed from his fear that Obi will not make any appreciable impact with the opposition coalition party.
The argument comes against the backdrop of Obi’s momentous presidential outing on the ticket of a Labour Party much weaker in 2023 than a 2026 ADC, which is a much stronger national coalition party expected to give the national ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a run for its money in the 2027 presidential election.
As a first-time presidential candidate flying the flag of ‘an unknown’ Labour Party in 2023, Obi ticked all impossibility boxes to beat the ruling APC and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in some of their strongholds, including Lagos and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), earning a bronze medal (as claimed by the Independent National Electoral Commission – INEC) to become the third best performing presidential candidate in the election.
Obi scored 6 million plus votes, to Atiku Abubakar’s 6 million plus votes and winner Tinubu’s 8 million plus votes, to place third in the election, which he was widely believed to have won but was manipulated out of the victory party by INEC, the judiciary and security agencies.
Therefore, according to observers, the implied argument that ADC, should Obi become its presidential flag-bearer, would not do better in 2027 than Labour Party did in 2023 with Obi as its flag-bearer, cannot but be disingenuous.
Referring to the reported pledge by “Southeast leaders” to deliver 90 per cent of the zone’s votes to President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, Ikonne boasted that the geopolitical zone would do much better than that, assuring that Southeast would, as a matter of fact, deliver 100% of the region’s votes to Tinubu.
The immediate past Executive Secretary and CEO of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), equally claimed that the entire Southeast is almost a one-party region for the President.
Speaking on the future of Governor Otti and his re-election in the forthcoming 2027 general elections, Ikonne dismissed the possibility of Labour Party (LP) having any influence in next year’s general elections, insisting that the Governor is no longer a factor because he does not have a party to even function.
Asked about the influence and popularity of Governor Otti in Abia State, Ikonne said: “Our governor is minus one. This Governor Otti is minus one in the sense that he doesn’t even have a party. As of today, he is a member of the LP but he conducted local government elections with Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
“He has abandoned Peter Obi. So what does that tell you? He started with Peter Obi and he is not ending up with Peter Obi. Why is he afraid? Why is his interest tilting towards APC? Because he has seen that people have shifted, Abians have shifted, South Easterners have shifted to support President Tinubu.
“Now no South Easterner will want to stay out or will want this region to stay out of the centre. We cannot keep isolating ourselves. No, South Easterners are no longer willing and ready to isolate themselves from governance because we need power and we are traders, we are businessmen and women.
“Aligning with the centre helps our businesses. We are all over Nigeria and we cannot be seen to be against government at the centre so that is why the work that Governor Hope and other leaders are putting in to see that we people understand the need for us to re-elect President Tinubu but not just with 10, 20 per cent, no.
“I did say sometime ago that South East will eventually become the stronghold of APC and with this endorsement, it is beginning to be obvious that we are getting towards that point,” he noted.
The APC chieftain further argued Peter Obi no longer commands the political strength to match President Tinubu in the South East ahead of the 2027 general election.
The endorsements, according to him, by serving governors, former governors, ex–Senate presidents, ministers and other top political figures, mark a strategic return of the South East to the centre of national politics and naturally diminishes Obi’s standing ahead of 2027.
“The calibre of leaders backing this endorsement shows a clear consolidation of political structures in favour of President Tinubu and the APC. Politics is about numbers and structure. When leaders who command followership align, the votes follow. This endorsement is a clear statement that the South-East has properly realigned with the centre to ensure that its votes count,” Ikonne said.
He further downplayed the political strength of Peter Obi, arguing that his influence has weakened considerably, particularly in the Southeast.
“If the only Governor elected on his platform has effectively abandoned him, what does that tell you?” Ikonne asked, referring to Abia State Governor Alex Otti.
Ikonne also claimed internal disarray within Obi’s new political platform, the ADC, arguing that the absence of strong party structures would make it difficult for Obi to mount a serious challenge in 2027.
While reacting to the recent endorsement of President Tinubu by the Southeast leaders in Enugu State, Ikonne said: “I think we have gone beyond seventy percent. Some school of thought believe that with the number of people, the calibre of people we have in APC today in the South East that 90 per cent will not be good result for us considering the moves, the decamping, the harvest of people that we are getting.”
“Let me give you a clearer picture so you can understand what it means for the entire south. What Governor Hope Uzodinma is doing is not only for the South Easterners residing in the zone. No, he has set up a team, which I am part of, now going around all the states in Nigeria where the Igbos reside, for us to begin to engage them, sensitize them, for them to understand the need to key into the 2027 re-election bid of Mr President.
“So, the votes that will come from the South East will not only be judged by the ones from those residing within the zone but from the ones residing outside the South East.
“Outside that, using Abia as a case study, PDP has almost emptied into APC in Abia state. What does that tell you? It tells you that the votes which were lost without having PDP, now that those in PDP are part of APC in other states, we will have them,” he claimed.
He dismissed claims that the APC is struggling for credibility in the South East, insisting that the ruling party has become the major destination for defectors from rival parties in the region.
“The Igbos are not fools and no Igbo man wants to make one mistake two times. No not at all,” he said.
