Prof ABC Nwosu Reveals How Igbo Votes Saved Bola Tinubu During the 2003 General Elections
- Professor ABC Nwosu has continued his campaign for Igbo presidency ahead of the 2023 general elections
- The elder statesman has been very vocal on the need for other parts of the country to support Igbo presidency in the next elections
- Professor Nwosu had earlier lamented that Igbos are treated as secessionists in Nigeria, especially in politics
FCT, Abuja - A former minister of health, Professor ABC Nwosu has revealed how votes from southeasterners saved Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu's political career in 2003.
Tinubu, 69, presided over the affairs of Lagos state from 1999 to 2007 under the defunct Alliance for Democracy.
Source: Facebook
In 2003, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won all the governorship elections in the southwest states except Lagos, while Tinubu was governor.
Professor Nwosu, a member of the PDP board of trustees, says Tinubu's electoral victory at the time was made by Igbos living in Lagos.
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Speaking to Legit.ng in an exclusive chat in his Abuja residence, the elder statesman queried why Tinubu is contesting for the presidency, saying the former Lagos state governor ought to be canvassing for a president from the southeast in 2023.
Making reference to past political sacrifices made by southeast politicians, Pof Nwosu said:
“Obasanjo was imprisoned by evil forces. He wasn't there when we formed PDP. The chief architect of and founder of PDP is Dr. Alex Ekwueme. One of the most important factors of founding PDP was power shift. Presidency shall rotate between the north and the south.
“That was what was in the draft constitution that would have been promulgated by Abacha. Most of the people arguing now or their fathers were present at that conference.
“In 1993, Dr. Sylvester Ugo, the governor of the Central Bank of Biafra, lost in his ward to Abiola. His ward is Mbaise. He is as Igbo as he can be. His place is even where we had the Ahiara Declaration during the Biafran war.
“And, yet, his people, left their son, a Ph.D. holder from Harvard, and voted for Abiola. Is that a people you can say are parochial?
“PDP changed all its rules to make sure that power went to the southwest in 1999 because of the monumental injustice which we are glad has now been redressed.
“Why is it that when it comes to the southeast, you see them jumping into the ring? What is Tinubu jumping into the ring for? If he was such an apostle of June 12. Can't he show some consideration? When his seat was threatened, the Igbos in Lagos helped sustained him.
“He was the only governor that survived. I know. He knows I know. Because I drove with him in the front seat of his car to solicit Igbo support. The Igbos supported him. Why can't he show some consideration?
“Every person knows that the support that put Jonathan on the seat and kept him on the seat was the Igbo support. The 95% to 5% that is used to punish Ndi Igbo now is because the Igbos gave 95% votes to Jonathan and 5% to President Buhari. And the Igbos have no regret about it because they felt it was the right thing to do.
“But when it comes to the turn of Ndi Igbo, it was even touted that Jonathan might run. It is simple arithmetic. It is right before God, so it should be right before man.”
Prof Nwosu also dismissed suggestions that Igbo politicians from the south-south region can fill in for the southeast in the 2023 polls.
According to him, south-south politicians of Igbo ethnic origin should wait for when the presidency is zoned to their region.
2023: Tinubu asked to step down for VP Osinbajo
In a related development, Tinubu has been urged to drop his presidential ambition and rally round Vice President Yemi Osibanjo for the 2023 presidency.
The convener and national coordinator for Osinbajo Support Movement, Badmus Olawale Liberty, made the call in Abuja on Wednesday, February 16.
Liberty said even though Osinbajo has not publicly declared his intention to contest for the office of the president come 2023, the group will compel him to run.
2023 Elections: FCI to partner with other agencies to combat fake news, misinformation
Meanwhile, FactCheck Initiative (FCI) has created a team for a cause that will involve partnering with the government and other agencies in other to have free, fair, and peaceful elections in Nigeria void of any form of violence in 2023.
The main aim of this cause will be to spot, examine and respond to the impact caused by any misleading information ahead of the upcoming 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
Adeoye Temitope, country director, FCI says stopping fake news and misinformation is the inspiration behind the project.
Source: Legit.ng
