From Chika Nwoba Nwoba
Ebonyi State had 39 delegates in the APC presidential primary election that just ended. Out of that figure, Engr David Umahi got 38 votes; Dr Ogbonnaya Onu got 1 vote making it 39.
I had over 100 delegates. Rochas Okorocha got zero. Emeka Nwajiuba got only 1 vote. Where did Imo votes go? They simply voted for Tinubu of the Yoruba extraction.
Anambra State had about 100 delegates, Ikeobasi Mokelu from Anambra got zero votes. Where did Anambra's votes go? Simply they went to Tinubu and Amaechi. They didn't vote for a South Eastern aspirant.
Abia had about 100 delegates. They didn't vote for a South Eastern aspirant. They voted for Sen. Dr Ahmed Lawan of the North East. Enugu had about 50 delegates. They didn't vote for a South Eastern aspirant. They possibly shared their votes with Tinubu and Amaechi.
Tomorrow, South East will be chanting the song of marginalisation when it's clear that apart from Ebonyi State, other South East States are a sellout in the struggle to have South Eastern persons grabbing presidential tickets of major political parties in Nigeria.
This they replicated in the presidential primary of the PDP. Only Ebonyi State delegates delivered a South Easterner --- Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim 100 per cent. Anambra, Enugu, Abia and the Imo States sold theirs. People of the South East who aren't into politics must note this. When we talk about the state that has the interest of the Igbo at heart politically, only Ebonyi State comes to mind.
With this kind of mentality by the other four South East States, the Igbo man doesn't stand a chance in the Aso Rock apart from a situation of the Yar'dua and Goodluck Jonathan repeats. In the Enugu-Onitsha expressway construction project linking the West African states, Ebonyi State constructed its portion. Enugu and Anambra States did away with theirs.
Today, these sections are almost in a state of impassability. I hope the Igbo people are taking record of this so that by tomorrow, whoever is complaining should know the quarters to take their complaints to.
Igbos are the ones marginalising themselves and when the judgement comes to the fore, Ebonyi State should be excluded from the statistics of the South East States that are mercantile in politics and anti-Igbo political movement and philosophy. Congratulations to Ndi Ebonyi for the exemplary outings they have undertaken so far.
Nwoba Chika Nwoba is the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Ebonyi State.
