Amid rising dissatisfaction with the state of governance, the Igbo Elders Consultative Forum has declared that Tinubu’s government has done virtually nothing for the Southeast and will likely face massive rejection in the 2027 elections.
The forum, in a damning assessment, said the region remains grossly underdeveloped under the current All Progressives Congress (APC) regime and warned that the party may not even secure the constitutionally required 25% of the vote from the zone.
Speaking exclusively, the forum’s Secretary General, Prof. Charles Nwekeaku, dismissed claims by APC loyalists that Tinubu has improved the region, describing such assertions as “selfish” and misleading.
“These politicians saying all that represent themselves. They are selfish. They don’t represent the people,” Nwekeaku said. “Now, I ask you, go to southeast. I just came back yesterday. I missed my flight. I came back by road. Every 100 meters, police checkpoint or military checkpoint. Not one kilometer now. I’m saying 100 meters in the southeast. And the road is terrible.”
The comments follow recent praise by Minister of Works, David Umahi, during a Sallah celebration in Ebonyi, where he claimed Tinubu had reversed years of neglect and delivered significant infrastructure to the region. “Before now, many Southeast states had no federal projects. But today, the federal presence is visible across the region. That is true national integration,” Umahi said.
But the Igbo elders disagreed. “The road that would take one hour would take you four hours in the southeast. So, tell me the one that the government has reconstructed. Tell me any major project they have done,” Nwekeaku responded. “Is it the gas project they are doing? They marginalised the southeast. Nothing in the southeast. Is it the railway? Tell me, what are they doing that warrants these governors to say that the president is doing well? Instead of telling Mr. President the truth.”
He said voters across the region were no longer swayed by party labels and would instead vote based on performance and integrity. “The Igbos will vote for merit, accountability, and good governance. If things continue like this I don’t think the APC will get 25 per cent in the Southeast come 2027. We are going to retire most of these politicians,” he added.
Nwekeaku also criticized the wave of defections to the APC, accusing defecting politicians of personal survival rather than public interest. “Why are politicians defecting? Already two or three governors from PDP have defected to APC. Why are they defecting? Were they elected under APC? What are their reasons? Because they failed to put their house in order. And because a number of them have soiled their hands.” “That’s why they are trying to escape any form of investigation and that’s why they are defecting. It’s not that they have any major plans for the people.”
He described the current economic situation as dire, citing the collapse of the naira and the rising cost of living. “What has the federal government done? What is the exchange rate of the Naira now? About 1,500 and something. If you go to the parallel market, N1,600, N1,000, almost N1,700. That is the exchange rate. This has made the Nigerian laborer the cheapest in the world.”
Comparing the minimum wage to inflation, he said: “The federal government said that they have increased the minimum wage to N70,000. Now, when the minimum wage was N30,000, N8,000 or N7,500 could buy you a bag of rice. Is that not true? Today, what they say they have increased, it cannot buy a bag of rice for you.”
The interview ends on a note of warning, the Southeast, long accused of being politically marginalised, may completely shut out the APC in 2027 if the current trend continues.
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