Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Prince Kalu Onuma is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress(APC) from Abia State. In this interview, he spoke about zoning and the chances of his party winning the 2023 governorship poll.
You are a staunch member of APC in Abia, what are the party’s chances in 2023?
Abians are indeed dying from untold sufferings in the state caused by PDP and we in Abia are therefore longing for a political party that would rescue Abians from accumulated decay, loss of moral compass and leadership failure of the PDP -led government in the state. With Abia State titling towards the fault lines of insecurity, non payment of workers salary, disillusionment and hopelessness, many Abians are searching for a leadership bailout which has now brightened APC chances in winning the 2023 governorship election and other elections in the state.
Some people are clamouring for a president of Igbo extraction in 2023, how do you think that could be actualised?
Presently, Ndigbo are at a crossroads. We appear to be wondering in the political wilderness like sheep without shepherd. This makes the emergence of a credible political platform and credible Igbo leadership more urgent now than any other time in our history. This is where APC comes in because APC as a political party zoned it’s presidency in 2023 to the South thereby making it the shortest route to Igbo presidency.
On the other hand, PDP which is the only real opposition party in the country zoned it’s presidency to the North in 2023 which implies that the Igbo have to wait for a minimum of 12 years or above before they can start thinking of producing a president of Igbo extraction.
To my mind and from the above, I urge Ndigbo to embrace APC as a credible political platform and use it for the actualisation of our collective desire to restore the dignity of Ndigbo by producing a president of Igbo extraction in 2023.
Do you think South East needs a regional security outfit going by the events on ground?
Security has socio-economic and political inclusive, vision-driven and effective governance aspects that need to be handled in conjunction with regional security outfit. Just as the Yoruba have theirs, the regional security outfit of Igbo architecture will help the Federal Security operatives to degrade, destroy and eliminate kidnapping, armed robbery kingpins and drug barons in the entire South East, including removal of all criminals in traditional institutions and in political offices and parties through special courts for accelerated hearing. In addition to the South East regional security outfit, South East Governors should carry out a massive youth empowerment job creation and invest in education and vocational training targeting elimination of prostitution, human trafficking, modern day slavery and idleness of youths. South East sure do need regional security outfit and it will be a good signal of serious leadership and no business as usual.
You are an advocate of power rotation in Abia but your party said it does not believe in zoning of governorship to any part of the state. How do you reconcile this?
Zoning as a party policy is undemocratic and alien to Nigeria constitution but by advocating for power rotation, I confined myself to Abia State due to the peculiar nature of the state. The founding fathers of Abia State in their wisdom agreed on an internal political arrangement known as Abia Charter of Equity to deal with the inherent dispute within the three senatorial zones in the state. By this special internal power sharing arrangement and as a committed APC member, I was not advocating for power rotation but rather advising my party leadership to ensure they pick their governorship candidate in 2023 from Abia North in line with the spirit of the founding fathers of the state. This will ensure continuity as well as lay a solid foundation for greater zonal integration in Abia to the ultimate benefit of APC in 2023.
As most people are clamouring for
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