The Governors of Imo and Ebonyi states have pledged to provide support and logistics for the conduct of the ongoing APC membership registration exercise throughout Igboland.
The assurance by the two governors of the APC in the South East to drive the process is coming as the backdrop of the insistence by a former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani that the APC is no longer an Hausa party.
Addressing an assemblage of political movers and shakers in Igbo land who gathered in Owerri, the Imo State capital on Tuesday for the zonal flag-off of the re-validation exercise in the South East, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State said Igbos have resolved to move in their numbers into the APC.
Uzodinma noted that over the years, the Igbos have been promised everything, including the construction of the second Niger Bridge, but no government in Nigeria has fulfilled such a commitment until the arrival of the present administration.
The Imo State Governor lauded the Buhari administration for embarking on the construction of the Second Niger Bridge and the provision of other essential infrastructure such as roads that eyes can see.
The Governor described the ongoing political realignment in Igbo land as a mass movement and urged leaders from the zone to ensure the Igbo nation takes its rightful place in the mainstream of Nigerian politics.
Senator Nnamani who also addressed the people said he was pleased with the massive attendance of the event by prominent leaders drawn from the zone, saying the information to attend had come at rather short notice.
Senator Ken Nnamani, ex- Senate PresidentDeclaring that the war is over, Nnamani observed the time has come to rely on constructive engagement, diplomacy and reason to negotiate Igbo interests and ensure that they are realized.
He said the APC had transformed from what he called an Hausa party into a national political vehicle, saying he has received assurances from President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigeria would become home to every Nigerian.
Reports from the area indicate that Igbos are gradually changing their perception of the ruling party, given the catalogue of road projects and attempts by the central government to control the menace posed by erosion in Nigeria’s South East.
Many Igbos agree that this is the first time after the Civil War that a Federal Government has embarked upon projects that are positively impacting on the developmental aspirations of the Igbos, and also giving the South easterners a sense of belonging.
Governor Uzodimma captured this mood when he told the crowd of Igbo leaders that APC believed more in the implementation of projects instead of sharing money.
A female lawmaker, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha who spoke of her frustrations with previous governments observed that there was indeed a different orientation in the APC which supports the delivery of what she referred to as “deliverables.”
On Friday, Igbo leaders led by Ohaneze Ndi Igbo would converge at Onitsha to inspect the pace of progress made by the Government on the construction of the second Niger Bridge.