WE DO NOT VOMIT AND LICK IT, WE ARE NOBLEMEN OF UNDILUTED INTEGRITY.

WE DO NOT VOMIT AND LICK IT, WE ARE NOBLEMEN OF UNDILUTED INTEGRITY.

At least some of you here cannot forget the agenda of South-East APC Presidency Project 2023, which we regularly published here and on about 100 of our other Project platforms since 2020, over a period of 3 years (2020-2023).

Among other provisions of the Project agenda, we stated that, as APC members and only because we are APC members, we wanted President of Nigeria of South-East extraction to emerge on APC platform in 2023. And we repeatedly warned that if APC unreasonably denied its presidential ticket to a credible person from the South-East, that we would direct our members and sympathizers to support any credible South-Easterner who might emerge on any other credible party platform.

That is our policy and in line with dictates of integrity, we are upholding it. We also warned in many published press statements that if a credible South-Easterner inevitably won the presidential election (we were sure one would win because we had watered the ground across Nigeria) and some anti-democratic elements tried to deny him his victory, that we would stand by him through thick and thin, and that we of the South-East might reconsider our position in Nigeria if we didn't produce President of Nigeria in 2023.

Is that not clear enough or did some people think we were joking? We are here because APC unreasonably denied its presidential ticket to any credible South-Easterner and because a credible South-Easterner (Peter Obi) won the presidential election on another credible party platform (Labour Party).

If certain anti-democratic elements in APC (represented by Buhari, Adamu and Tinubu, and the INEC Chairman, Mahmoud) want to deny Obi his well-deserved victory, are we supposed to go against our own Project policy statement simply because we are APC and might want accommodation in our party? NO!

We are noblemen and women; we cannot betray our conscience. It is true that South-East APC leaders failed us by behaving like cowards in 2020-2023, it is also true that we admired the courage of Tinubu in snatching the APC ticket against the will of Buhari and Adamu who wanted a northerner from the North-East, but APC (a political party not owned by anyone in particular) should have picked any credible South-Easterner even if he was cowardly.

In any case, I, National Coordinator of South-East APC Presidency Project 2023 and its parent body, South-East APC Integrity Group, who had in 2003 contested against Buhari and 12 others in ANPP presidential primary and was eminently qualified to contest again for the same office 20 years later, when all other South-East APC major stakeholders exhibited such mind-boggling cowardice and timidity and APC presidential primary was fast-approaching without any of them coming forward emphatically, declared on 2nd February 2022 to contest in the 2023 presidential election of Nigeria. 

My campaign was going very well but was dealt a deadly blow by the sudden and totally unexpected death of my beloved elder brother on 10th April 2022. I tried to continue regardless, but the blood of my brother in the mortuary wouldn't let me.

Thank God, Peter Obi, whose name had featured during our Project's selection process among the possible presidential aspirants for our projection even though he wasn't of APC, emerged as Labour Party candidate. So, when it seemed that South-East had been disgraced thoroughly, we got a credible South-Easterner contesting for President on a credible party platform.

Those of you in APC with us who misunderstand why we are supporting Obi should be well-guided after reading this statement. Next time, it will be advisable to ask questions about someone before jumping to conclusion.

We remain members of APC, because Tinubu does not own APC. After him, there should still be APC - hopefully, one that will be led by true and actual progressives. Thank God, LP is also a progressive party. By God's grace, a credible South-Easterner will still emerge President of Nigeria on a credible progressive party platform in 2023. It is not too late for that to happen.

Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu PhD.