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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Senator representing Anambra South, Ifeanyi Ubah, has said 80 per cent of Igbos got their wealth from President Bola Tinubu’s legacy in Lagos State.
Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial hub and Tinubu governed the state between 1999 and 2007.
Speaking after he was formally received into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, on Thursday, Ubah said Tinubu has the capacity to govern Nigeria.
“I want to be sincere, it has always been difficult for the Igbo people to key into the national party because of our sentiments and emotions.
“Since our president has emerged and I put that challenge to each Igbo man today in Nigeria, 70 per cent – 80 per cent of them derive their wealth from the legacy that the president has left in Lagos.
“Our president is the politician that understands how it pains and how to console everybody. He has that capacity.
“It is also important for me to tell our people about the appointment of Dave Umahi as the Minister of Works for the very first time, irrespective of our very low turnout of votes for him. Our president is rewarding those who didn’t vote for him. For that, it will be very difficult for any man with a conscience not to look at the direction of the central party. I consulted widely. I don’t see anyone who will come against my coming into the APC.
“It is not all about talking. It is about doing. I believe in action and I am going to deliver. I have made my complaints to Mr President in front of the Senate President and Mr President has graciously given me his words that he will support me,” he said.
Ubah added that he joined APC because he wanted the South East to align with Tinubu’s administration.
Responding, APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, said with the Senator’s defection, he is confident that the party would take control of other South East states.
“This is the biggest fish we caught since I became the chairman. Let’s see what is happening in the SouthEast. With five states, three are controlled by different political parties. We have the PDP, Labour Party and APGA. The remaining two are the APC states. Now, where is the sense of unity in a geopolitical zone with five states controlled by four political parties? Is this a sense of collective decision to participate in national politics? No.
“Now we have started seeing the answer. We will start a revolution. Already, we have two states in the South East and with this timber and calibre and political juggernaut (Ubah), I think we have found the answer, an answer to liberating the South East geopolitical zone. I describe him as a swing politician because wherever he is, that party wins. And we expect this swing will swing throughout the South East, especially to the other three states.
Speaking, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, congratulated Ubah for taking the bold step, adding that he was happy that he also survived the whirlwind campaign of the Labour Party that swept across the South East.
“Our visit today is to surprise you (Ganduje) that we have increased our number in the Nigerian Senate. This time around we are bringing a political timber in the Senate to you. It was very difficult to convince him to join the train. Here is the man who survived the tsunami in the South East when the Labour Party was deceiving Nigerians.
“He is not just coming with YPP alone; he is also coming with the timbers and calibres of the old party that used to be in charge of Nigeria. One of them is a former Senate President. So the man that comes will be the torch to lead the South East to the national politics of Nigeria. It is my privilege to hand him over to you,” Akpabio said.
Ubah’s defection increased the number of APC Senators in the National Assembly to 60.