By Abdul-Ganiyy Akanbi, Abuja

Former National Legal Adviser of the Inter Party Advisory Council of Nigeria, (IPAC), Chief Barrister Chukwudi Ezeobika, has said that the people of the South East and South South together with other regions would not support President Bola Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress, (APC ) during the 2027 general elections due to what he described as political intolerance, bigotry and parochialism of the present administration.

Barr.Chukwudi Ezeobika

Ezeobika said Tinubu, having emerged as the president “amidst doubts and unresolved moral questions as to the credibility of a partisan electoral process” by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, “has once again failed to jettison the unpatriotic, perfidious and deeply prejudiced behaviour of his predecessor in office in the way and manner he runs his government.”

He also added in a statement issued on Sunday that the President “has once again demonstrated that political Intolerance, bigotry and parochialism have become deeply rooted and fully entrenched as a well established ideology and inherent policy of the APC.

“The marginalisation and or exclusion of many ethnic nationalities who form an integral part of the Nigeria nation in various federal appointments shows, to some extent, the impunity and disdain with which President Bola Tinubu builds tensions across the nation and creates disaffection and hatred amongst Nigerians,” he stated.

Ezeobika, who was a former candidate for Anambra South Senatorial District in 2018, further noted that the failure of the Tinubu-led APC government to heed the calls of eminent jurists and major stakeholders from the South East to put an end to the protracted unrests in the region, by releasing the detained leader of the indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally, goes to show that the political will to restore lasting peace within the region, is not a viable consideration or priority for his government.

He said: “The President has, however, failed to understand that such costly inaction forecloses his chances of ever getting the needed political support within the region, in his current bid to have himself re-elected.

“This singular inaction remains the main and only reason why his defeat in the whole of the South East and South South will be absolute, unalloyed and damning as the people from these regions will use every means necessary to defend their votes.

“Having nursed and superintendent over a political party that has brought untold hardships, avoidable deaths and economic strangulation to a nation once projected as the best economy in Africa, the damaging effects of the ineptitude of the current administration on the lives of Nigerian citizens remain the main reason why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is deemed unelectable in the forthcoming general elections.”

Ezeobika also alleged that the present administration has unwittingly failed to address persistent extra judicial killings across the country and numerous arrests, illegal detentions of many youths by security agencies most especially by the Department of State Services, DSS without trial.

“It is indeed deeply troubling that many of these youths are languishing in detention facilities across the Federation even without any formal trials. This is, however, in clear violation of their fundamental rights as enshrined in Sections 34, 35, 36 and 41 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), most especially Section 36 (5) which provides that ‘Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty,” he stated.

Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, Chairman of the Senate Inter-parliamentary Committee, remarked that the purported petition from the suspended Senator Natasha is “dead on arrival.”

He emphasised that Nigeria, rather than Senator Natasha, is the member of the IPU.

A petition can only be lodged against another member state by a member state.

This implies that the IPU cannot consider petitions from individuals who are not members.

The suspended Senator Natasha is not a member of the IPU, but Nigeria is!
Additionally, the suspended Senator cannot represent the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“I served as the interim president of the IPU in Geneva in 2023, and I am familiar with how the IPU operates after presiding over its proceedings.

Furthermore, as Chairman of the Inter- parliamentary Committee in the Nigerian Senate, I did not approve or authorise the suspended Senator Natasha to attend the IPU on behalf of Nigeria to the Senate President.”