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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chekwas Okorie, has warned Nigerians against continued reliance on elderly leaders, endorsing Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), for the 2027 election.
Okorie, founder of the Igbo Agenda Dialogue (IAD), said the group’s decision followed an assessment of the leading presidential contenders’ records, public service, empathy, physical fitness and management of public resources.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, he said the group believed Obi possessed the capacity and commitment required to address Nigeria’s challenges.
Okorie said: “We considered their track records in the previous political leadership positions they held, their empathy and passion for the people of Nigeria, their physical fitness to rise to the onerous challenges of presiding over the country as large and heterogeneous as Nigeria.”
He added that the group had consulted widely before reaching its decision to endorse Obi, whom he described as a candidate capable of providing a different approach to governance.
The IAD chairman also criticised what he called the dominance of gerontocrats in Nigeria’s presidential politics, arguing that the country needed leaders with the ideas and strength to confront its multidimensional challenges.
He said the endorsement was informed partly by his belief that Obi enjoyed broad support across ethnic and religious lines.
IAD Executive Secretary, Jonathan Elendu, said the South-East had historically worked with other regions to promote national unity and political stability.
He cited the political coalition between the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), led by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, and the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), which enabled the formation of the government led by Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa after independence.
Elendu also recalled the accord between Azikiwe’s Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) and the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) during the Second Republic.
He said Igbo political leaders later supported the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following assurances that former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme would receive backing from northern political associates in his presidential ambition.
According to Elendu, political leaders in the South-East mobilised support for the PDP during the transition to civilian rule in 1999, but Ekwueme was ultimately unsuccessful at the party’s presidential primary in Jos, Plateau State.
He argued that these historical examples demonstrated the South-East’s contributions to political cooperation and national development.
The group maintained that its endorsement of Obi reflected its assessment of the candidates and its desire for a change in Nigeria’s political leadership.
