• President’s re-election rooted in facts, tangible benefits already accruing to region – Mbah
• Uzodimma: ‘Our growth ‘ll be reflected in the 2027 ballot box’
Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southeast on Saturday formally endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term in office, pledging to mobilise massive votes for his re-election in the 2027 general elections.
The endorsement was the outcome of a high-level Southeast APC Stakeholders’ Meeting held at the Presidential Hotel, Enugu, where party leaders, governors, lawmakers, elders and critical stakeholders from across the zone reviewed the region’s political trajectory and resolved to align fully with the ruling party at the centre.
Speaking at the meeting, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, who is also the Chairman of the Southeast Governors’ Forum and Director-General of the APC 2027 election project, said President Tinubu had entrusted the political future of his re-election to the Southeast, describing it as both an honour and a responsibility.
Uzodimma noted that the Southeast could no longer afford political isolation, stressing that the region’s marginal contribution to the APC’s victory in the 2023 presidential election weakened its bargaining power at the national level.
He said while other zones contributed between 34 and 54 per cent of votes to the APC in 2023, the Southeast recorded about six per cent, a situation he described as politically unsustainable.
According to him, the political tide in the region has since changed, pointing to the growing strength of the APC in the Southeast.
Uzodimma said the party now controls three out of the five Southeast states, up from two in 2023, while its representation in the Senate has risen from six to eight senators.
He added that APC lawmakers in the House of Representatives from the zone have also increased from eight to 23.
“These numbers give us hope, but they also give us a challenge,” Uzodimma said. “The growth we see among leaders must reflect at the ballot box in 2027. Politics is pay as you earn. No zone can produce a president alone, and if we continue to vote provincially, we will remain on the sidelines of national power.”
He declared that President Tinubu deserved a second term to complete the economic and security reforms initiated by his administration, citing improvements in foreign exchange stability, security, access to student loans through NELFUND, infrastructure development and economic reforms that previous governments avoided.
Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah, in his address, described the endorsement of President Tinubu and the increasing alignment of the Southeast with the APC as a “paradigm shift grounded in pragmatism.”
He said the region had moved from “standing at the crossroads of history to shaping history itself.”
Mbah said the decision to support Tinubu’s re-election was rooted in facts, vision, and the tangible benefits already accruing to the region from alignment with the centre.
He cited federal projects such as the revival of the Eastern Railway corridor, gas and energy development initiatives in the region, and the approval of the concession of the Enugu Airport, which he said would position the state as an international gateway for the Southeast.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda is beyond a political slogan,” Mbah said. “It is about aligning vision at the centre with delivery at the states. These are not symbolic gestures but strategic decisions that show a federal leadership committed to inclusive governance.”
Also speaking, Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State expressed confidence that by 2027, all governors in the Southeast would be members of the APC.
He urged party leaders to embrace reconciliation and sacrifice, noting that the influx of new members required effective internal management rather than further party building.
“I want to urge our leaders that we need to forgive one another and make a lot so that those who are joining us now will have a place in our party. Like I promised our people in Ebonyi State, now that we have one party, the only struggle is how to manage the party and not how to build the party again. It is the same in every other state in the Southeast,” he said.
At the end of the meeting, stakeholders issued a communiqué in which they unanimously declared their total and unwavering support for President Tinubu as the APC’s sole presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.
The communiqué rejected what it described as ego-driven and divisive politics, calling for unity of purpose among political leaders and the wider Igbo population.
The leaders urged Ndi Igbo within and outside Nigeria to embrace the APC as the most viable platform for advancing the region’s political and economic interests, warning that scattering votes across multiple parties had historically weakened the Southeast’s influence at the national level.
They further pledged to mobilise human, material and political resources to deliver bloc votes for Tinubu across the five Southeastern states in 2027, with specific responsibilities assigned to governors for coordination and mobilisation within and across states.
The motion endorsing President Tinubu for a second term was formally moved by former Senate President, Senator Pius Anyim, and seconded by former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, who described the decision as courageous and strategic, insisting, “if you want to avoid the rain, you must enter the shade.”
Other prominent figures at the meeting included the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu; former Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Ikedi Ohakim, among several senators, lawmakers and party elders from the zone.
The meeting concluded with a call for sustained unity, voter mobilisation and strategic engagement ahead of the 2027 general elections, as the Southeast APC declared that the region had “spoken with one voice” in support of President Tinubu and the ruling party.
