By Our Correspondent <\/p>\n
As 2027 election draws close, a coalition of South-East advocacy organisations has called on political parties in Nigeria to zone their presidential tickets to the South-East ahead of the 2027 Nigerian General Elections, insisting that justice, fairness and national balance demand that the region produce the next President of the country.<\/p>\n
The groups made the declaration on Monday during a special joint press conference held in Enugu by the South East Enlightenment Group, the Igbo Leadership Development Foundation, and other stakeholders within the African Democratic Congress.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists, the National President of the South East Enlightenment Group, Dr Godwin Udibe, said the coalition convened the briefing following the recent release of the election timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission.<\/p>\n
According to him, the timetable signals the beginning of political activities ahead of the 2027 elections, making it necessary for the region to restate its long-standing demand for equity and rotation of presidential power.<\/p>\n
Udibe argued that the South-East has remained the only geopolitical zone in southern Nigeria yet to produce a President in the current democratic dispensation.<\/p>\n
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\nHe noted that under the Fourth Nigerian Republic, the South-West has produced the President three times, the South-South once, while the South-East has not had the opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis reveals a frightening prospect for the South-East. The region appears to be steadily sidelined in the scheme of power play in Nigeria, with many of our people feeling alienated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The coalition therefore urged all political parties to zone their presidential tickets to the South-East in the interest of national unity and fairness.<\/p>\n
The groups recalled the political arrangement in 1998 when major political parties zoned their presidential tickets to the South-West following the annulment of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election.<\/p>\n
They argued that a similar consensus would promote justice and strengthen the country\u2019s democratic stability.<\/p>\n
Udibe also expressed concern that the leading political platforms may not offer viable pathways for South-East aspirants.<\/p>\n
He noted that within the All Progressives Congress, the presidential ticket appears secured for the incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while the African Democratic Congress has reportedly opened its race to contenders such as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.<\/p>\n
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\nHe further stated that both the People\u2019s Democratic Party and the Labour Party are currently grappling with internal crises, which he described as making them \u201cundesirable platforms for serious contenders.\u201d<\/p>\n
The groups also criticised what they described as a \u201cpoaching game\u201d by the ruling APC, noting that the party currently has about 31 governors ruling on its platform across the federation.<\/p>\n
However, Udibe argued that political defections do not necessarily translate into improved welfare for citizens in the South-East.<\/p>\n
According to him, the development has further strengthened the resolve of regional stakeholders to pursue collective interests.<\/p>\n
In a direct appeal, the coalition called on President Tinubu not to seek a second term in office in 2027 but instead support a South-East candidate to complete the remaining years of the South\u2019s turn in the presidency.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor equity\u2019s sake, we call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to run for a second term in 2027 but to support a South-Easterner to clinch the presidency for a single term to complete eight years of southern presidency,\u201d Udibe said.<\/p>\n
He added that after such an arrangement, the presidency should return to the North in keeping with Nigeria\u2019s informal power-rotation principle.<\/p>\n
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\nThe coalition also warned that South-East governors who oppose the region\u2019s presidency project could face electoral backlash.<\/p>\n
Udibe said the groups would mobilise voters across the South-East to reject any political leader perceived to be working against the region\u2019s collective ambition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will mobilise the South-East to vote out any governor working against the South-East presidency project,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
The groups concluded by reaffirming their commitment to rallying support across Nigeria for a South-East presidential candidate in 2027, insisting that the demand is rooted in fairness, national inclusion, and democratic balance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent As 2027 election draws close, a coalition of South-East advocacy organisations has called on political parties in Nigeria to zone their presidential tickets to the South-East ahead of the 2027 Nigerian General Elections, insisting that justice, fairness and national balance demand that the region produce the next President of the country. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4738,6283,6282],"class_list":["post-11909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-scheme","tag-sidelined","tag-steadily"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11910,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11909\/revisions\/11910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}