Follow Us on Google
By Brown Chimezie
A member of All Progressives Congress (APC), Presidential Campaign Council, Prince Nixon Okwara has said that it has become very imperative that the Igbos living in Lagos should vote massively for the re-election of governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Sun, Prince Okwara who is also the chairman of Igbo stakeholders forum said that it is not only that Sanwo-Olu is doing very well and as such deserve a re-election, voting him would also enhance the chances of South east producing the 10th Senate president.
He also spoke on other issues.
Excerpts
Why are Igbo stakeholders rooting for Sanwo-Olu?
Well, the reason why Igbo stakeholders Forum is rooting for Sanwo-Olu’s re-election is based on the fact that he is a performing governor. A saying has it that one good turn deserves another. So, we are happy that he did well in his first term and as such deserves re-election. Igbos crave for development and when we see somebody who is development oriented, we also show support. Another thing is that Lagos is our host community and APC is the ruling party, we should not be seen as opposing the ruling party in Lagos state. It is because of this that we are also supporting governor Sanwo-Olu. Igbos in Lagos are partners in progress with our host community. We are builders and not dividers or destroyers. We have invested billions of dollars in Lagos state, even more than in our own native states, so we want stability and continuity. We cannot leave anything to chance or try to rock the boat.That is why we have mobilized and sensitized Igbos in all the nooks and crannies of Lagos state to go out on Saturday and vote for Babajide Sanwo-Olu and all the APC ,House of Assembly candidates.
There is this call for senate president to be zoned to south east, what do you think about that?
It might interest you to know that I am one of the pioneers of the call. I am of the opinion that for the sake of equity, fairness and justice, the presidency of the 10th Senate should not only be zoned to south east, but particularly to Imo state. Nigeria was founded on a tripod of north, east and west. Since the president elect is from southwest, vice president elect from north, equity, justice and good conscience demands that senate president should come from east. Now you may wonder why I said Imo state in particular. The reason is because Imo state is the first and the only APC state in the south east. It will therefore, amount to injustice if the position is given to another state.
Another thing is the issue of security. We have observed that even the agitation that started from the other parts of the south east now looks like it has taken root in Imo state, which I strongly feel has political underone.as the perceived oppositions of the governor has capitalized on the agitation to make Imo seems ungovernable. Furthermore, it is important for the in-coming Bola Tinubu administration to have a special place for the Igbos because of the perceived exclusion by the Buhari administration.
So as a member of the All Progressives Congress, Presidential Campaign Council and die- hard Bola Ahmed Tinubu supporter ,I believe in his sense of judgment and justice in sharing .It is my belief that his administration will be the best for the Igbos .We have followed him for some time now and we believe that he will use this opportunity to deepen the relationship between south east and south west politically, economically, socially and otherwise and one of the measures is by ensuring that the Senate presidency is zoned to south east and Imo state in particular.This will no doubt be a political master stroke.If this done, it would help in infrastructure development, economic develop and most importantly in integrating Imo state in particular and south east in general into the party. Again, this political integration will also help in building better relationship between Igbos living in Lagos and their host community. There is no family in the south east that does not have somebody in Lagos. Again, all the Igbo town unions have their branches here in Lagos. So, we all are counting on Asiwaju for justice and equity and we believe that he will do it.
