Igbos have no ‘moral standing’ to cry marginalization as long as they remain outside our party- APC

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has stated that the people of the South East will continue to have no “moral standing” to make the case for their marginalization as long as they remained outside the fold of the APC.

The party therefore urged them to move into the APC and ‘make meaningful contributions’ in order for their lot to change.

National Chairman of the APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, made this argument Thursday, supported by former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, in Abuja, during a reconciliation meeting to pacify the aggrieved aspirants in the recently conducted Anambra governorship primary.

Following Oyegun’s call to Igbos to seize the opportunity of improving their fortunes by joining the APC, Nnamani buttressed the point in detail.

He said, “I totally agree with him (Oyegun) especially on the issue of marginalization that you do not stay under the rain when it is pouring heavily and start crying because nobody will observe. Unless you go into the ruling party and make meaningful contributions, you will then have a moral standing to ask ‘why don’t we have this or that?

These comments echo President Muhammadu Buhari’s July 2015 interview where he expressed similar sentiments. Asked about inclusive governance, Buhari had controversially said, “I hope you have a copy of the election results. The constituents, for example, gave me 97% [of the vote] cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5%.”

In a related development, Oyegun, while inaugurating the APC’s 48-member campaign council for the Anambra elections, further advised the South East to join the party, saying it was the ‘most viable route’ to an Igbo presidency.

“We must change the narrative in the South East and we must start with Anambra because the APC represents the most viable route for any south east person to the presidency of this country”, he said.

The APC chairman also welcomed the former Deputy National Chairman to the now-collapsed Ali Modu Sherrif-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Cairo Ojougbo, to the party, saying his presence in the committee showed that he had a lot to contribute to the development of the party.

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