• ‘I’m in APC to offer service’
By Iheanacho Nwosu,Abuja
Former Senate President and All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, Ken Nnamani has called for unity among South-East leaders and politicians, especially those who belong to his party.
He said the resort to abusive or gutter language by prominent politicians from the zone against one another would hurt the political interest of the zone, stressing that politics could be played without denigrating one another.
Nnamani, who spoke in a telephone chat said he joined APC to further offer service to the country and to help raise the political profile of the South-East. “Some of us did not join the APC because of hunger, but in the interest of the Igbo. We should play politics of ideas and avoid abusive words.
“Ndigbo do not have the ingredients for opposition politics. How the Yoruba people voted in 2015 should be an eye-opener. They voted for both sides, but the South-East put all their eggs in one basket,” he said.
Nnamani, who joined APC a fortnight ago, urged Nigerians to continue to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s effort at re-engineering the socio-economic well being of the country.
On the pronouncement by Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, that he is now the leader of APC in the South-East, the former Senate President noted that much as he has no problem with playing the role, he would prefer that who leads the party in the zone should naturally evolve.
Okorocha, at the South-East APC stakeholders meeting held in Owerri, said “there is a vacuum of leadership in the South-East APC.
“With Ken Nnamani, the question of who the leader of the APC is in the zone has been answered. Nnamani is the leader of APC in the South-East.
“Senator Nnamani should, then, work with other leaders like Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Jim Nwobodo and a host of others to give Ndigbo a political direction. APC is the right party for the Igbo and the only party that can guarantee Igbo presidency in 2023.”
Nnamani stressed he would not shy away from taking up the mantle of leadership of the party in the zone, but said asking him to do such must have the blessing of leaders and members of the party in the South-East.
“I’m in the party to serve. Who leads the party in the zone has to evolve, it has to be agreed upon by leaders of the party in the zone,” he said.
He restated the need for South East leaders to speak with one voice on issues concerning the zone, insisting that engaging in needless diatribe and mudslinging were not what the zone needed at the moment.