The SOUTH EAST Patriots’ Assembly (SEPA), a pro- BolaTinubu pan-Igbo good governance, economic and socio-political pressure group is excited about recent firm declaration by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor that elections will unfailingly hold in the South East and all other parts of Nigeria on February 25 and March 11, 2023, as scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It stated that the stern warning by the CDS that no individual or group would be allowed to disenfranchise Nigerians from voting for candidates of their choice is sweet music to the ears.
The CDS made the declaration on Monday in Abuja at the presentation of the score card of the Ministry of Defence under the Muhammadu Buhari administration from 2015 till date while responding to a question on threats by some elements within the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and its military arm, the Eastern Security Network that elections would not hold on those states.
General Irabor sternly warned that the armed forces of Nigeria were fully ready to ensure that all Nigerians citizens go out and vote for candidates of their choice without any fear of intimidation, molestation or hindrance whatsoever.
“An operation is being conducted in the South East and it is geared towards bringing some sanity to bear in the entire South East and to ensure that the citizens have the confidence to go out and exercise theit franchise on the 25th of February and 11th of March 2023.
“So be rest assured and I would like to enjoin you journalists to spread the message that elections will hold in all parts of Nigeria and especially in the South East. The armed forces of Nigeria are working in concert with the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to ensure that the menace of criminality from IPoB/ESN is eliminated”, the CDS said.
Reacting to the comments by the CDS, Chief Media Strategist of SEPA, Hon. Emeka Nwankpa in a statement issued today in Owerri, the Imo State capital, lauded the CDS for the hard stance, saying that the decllaration by the nation’s tested No. 1 military chief was well-received in the region.
Part of SEPA’s statement in Owerri where members of the group converged to welcome APC’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the grand finale of his presidential rally in the South East, read:
“Nothing can be more reassuring than the assurances by the Nigeria’s tested No. 1 military chief. The peaceful and law-abiding Umu Ala Igbo are pleased and whole-heartedly welcome this assurance particularly coming at a time that a huge proportion of the Ndigbo have finally made up their minds to come out en masse and vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu whom they have come to see decent, reliable and dependable ally in the ongoing push to pull the South East from political wilderness”, the group said.
According to the group’s spokesman, many elders, clergy, community leaders, opinion moulders, business men and youths of the region are now beginning to realize the efficacy, urgency and potency to quickly utilize the coming elections to pull the entire South East region from the twin tragedies of sticking, for eight odious years, with a serial politically abusive PDP on one hand and experimenting, on the other hand, with another rampaging, rambunctious and opportunistic fellow whose flight-of-fancy aspiration leads to nowhere other than to compound the woes of the Ndigbo.
“For the avoidance of doubt, SEPA welcomes Mr. Peter Obi’s foray more as oxygen for future presidency of Igbo extraction but surely less sure-footed in practical terms, and not without the obvious damage and serial de-marketing which his highly abusive and insulting social media adherents and malcontents have unwittingly done to the entire peaceful, entrepreneurial, risk-taking and forward-looking credentials of Ndigbo. We know who we are”, he said.
“We know Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he also knows us Ndigbo especially how they rallied round him when Olusegun Obasanjo’s Federal Government denied him of Lagos State’s statutory allocations. The Ndigbo also know how he promoted Igbo business interest in Lagos following in the genial footsteps of Late Alhaji Lateef Jakande who created the now popular multi-billion naira Alaba Market for Igbo traders paving the way for their economic prosperity while Governor Peter Obi was busy chasing fellow Ndigbo out of Anambra State.
“Today, the expectations and indications are higher and certain that a President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will even do more for the entire Nidigbo, building on APC gains in the southeast, from road construction, second Niger Bridge, revived moribund sea and dry ports and the Akanu Ibiam Airport.
“Our clarion call on the entire Ndigbo especially our leading lights is to embrace Tinubu as a bridge to ferry us to the other side of national political relevance and positioning to enable it equitably share in the national patrimony which APC currently has with majority state governments, governors, ministers, senators and Federal Reps . Enough of this faltering and floundering about in the backwaters of national political relevance, we must be well-seated at the next table where critical national decisions will be made about the future of this country and our people.
“The point to note here is the strategic factor and power of incumbency which remains a crucial winning edge in the elections. While APC is fully in-charge of twenty-two (22) States, PDP has 14 States (not discounting the huge deficit created by Wike-led power shift-driven Integrity G5 Group of Governors) and Obi’s Labour Party controls none of the thirty-six (36) States. This also reflects in the Governorship, Senate, House of Representatives, Houses of Assembly seats or offices including Local Government structures and Councillorships.
“This clearly gives Tinubu a major and significant edge over and above the duo of Atiku and Obi. This configuration makes the choice for Ndigbo very clear and saves us the temptation of plunging ourselves into another 4 years of political Siberia which the average Igbo family can afford. Our stars lie in the choice we make today. Tinubu is the way”, the group said.
“And in doing so, we must be creative and calculative, we must put on our thinking caps, building alliances and bridges to take us to Nigeria’s mainstream politics which our political forbears did their best to achieve. But we need to know that though the dynamics have changed, our enlightened interest remains the same.
“We must therefore be alive to our needs, proactive in our actions and refuse to be lay back, plodding along the same empty route that has left us with handouts obtained cap in hand. In the coming elections, we must march out en masse and vote for pro-Igbo Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And what happened to the desperate Candidate who once married our daughter pretending to love us? One chance! Not so for Tinubu who has shown that he knows and leads the way”, the group said.
Hon. Nwankpa told citizens and residents of the South East region that the assurances of the Chief of Defence Staff was all they needed at this critical time to come out and vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu whom it believed his eventual election, inauguration and immediate actions would go a long way to reduce the tension and enthrone a new regime of peace, tranquility and prosperity in the region.
“The whole world especially the Ndigbo is eagerly looking up to the Armed Forces of Nigeria under General Iraboh’s professional stewardship to translate his timely and auspicious assurances into reality by making sure that the general elections will be free, peaceful and well conducted.
“Without doubt, the elections in the region offer a major litmus test to the courage, gallantry, integrity, prowess, doggedness, resilience and professionalism of our military whose cutting-edge image among other modern militaries in the democratic community across the world is legendary.
“We therefore endorse assurances and urge the well-meaning Ndigbo to show maximum support to activities of our military, the Police Force and other intelligence and security agencies. We hasten to add here that law-abiding people have nothing to fear before, during and after the elections. It is only merchants of chaos and violence have everything to fear”, he said.
