Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate for the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has been accused by the Labour Party of regarding people from the south-eastern region as “fools.” The Labour Party also said there is no other word to describe his recent statement in Awka, which took place in Anambra State, other than “insensitive.”
The Labour Party has claimed that Atiku insulted the Ndigbo on their turf when the country is on the verge of civil war due to regional favouritism in administration, a desire for greater national harmony and equality, and the dominance of one ethnic group in the executive branch.
The party claimed that Atiku’s request for Ndigbo’s support of a continuation of the Northern-Fulani-Muslim-ticket was an insult of the highest order, given that the Igbo have not tested the presidency since 1999 and the North has been in power for the past decade. They also claimed that kleptocrats are masters at their own game and always look for ways to trick their supposed victims.
Chief Innocent Okeke, national vice chairman (South East), made the comments in a statement released on Thursday.
Okeke claimed that Atiku was using stale political tactics on Ndigbo but that they would fail this time because the people of the Southeast were no longer willing to accept second-class citizenship in a country in which they play a crucial role.
Okeke claimed that Atiku wouldn’t have run for president or even asked for support from the South or Ndigbo in particular if he had any integrity, as President Muhammadu Buhari, a Northerner, will be finishing eight years in Aso Rock the next year.
Okeke said: “If Atiku was not up to spite Ndigbo as he usually does, if he believes he is the stepping stone for Ndigbo to take their rightful place, why is he still in this presidential race? He claims to be a unifier, whereas he defiles equity, the most potent unifying factor in Nigeria.
“Funnily enough, Atiku is among those that designed the agreement of rotation in 1999, and has witnessed it go around and now it is the undisputable turn of Ndigbo, why does he want to change the goalpost in the middle of a match? This is unacceptable.”
According to his recollection, no Igbo man or southerner challenged Atiku and Buhari, who are from the North. The South proudly watched from the sidelines as the war was fought between a Northerner and another per the principle of rotation and zoning arrangement.
“Now that it is the turn of the South and the Southeast precisely, why is Atiku contesting and at the same time coming to the East with the intention to insult and mock them?
“Ndigbo have contributed and still contributing to the present unity and success of Nigeria and doing everything possible to keep a united Nigeria. Agitations are up because of Nigeria’s reluctance to embrace equity. Any semblance of unity that exists is driven by Ndigbo, the only tribe that goes everywhere and builds a home. Therefore, it was insulting to tell such people that you are their stepping stone to the presidency.
“Igbo want to be president because they want to fix the Nigeria that has been damaged over the years. They have presented one of their best, whose positive record as a Governor is overwhelming.
“As we look forward to a new Nigeria emerging from reality and faith, no one should take these elements that have been architects of Nigeria’s problems seriously.
“You can not go to Kaduna and reveal that an average northerner will not vote for a president from the South and repeat that the average northerner will not like to vote Igbo or Yoruba, only to come to Awka and say you are a stepping stone. Who do you want to deceive?
“Atiku should be advised to withdraw from the presidential race, work on himself and purge away the old conspiracies that he and his cohorts have been using to teach their younger ones hate and disunity. This is the only practical way to be a unifier,” Okeke noted.