2027: Northern Igbo group backs Tinubu, targets 2m votes

By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo

ABUJA — The Igbo Political Movement in the 19 Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term in the 2027 presidential election, pledging a minimum of two million votes for the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The group, under the aegis of the Igbo Delegate Assembly, IDA, 19 Northern States and FCT, said the decision followed consultations with traders, industrialists, youths, women and community leaders across the North.

Declaring the endorsement at a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, Director-General of the movement, Chief John Amaechi Onwe, said the decision was based on what he described as the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms, infrastructure projects and interventions to support businesses.

Speaking on the theme, “Continuity, Prosperity, and Inclusion: Why Igbo Political Movement under Igbo Delegate Assembly 19 Northern States plus FCT Back President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a Second Term,” Onwe said the reforms initiated by the administration required more time to mature.

He said: “We stand unequivocally to make a clear and historic declaration: We, the Igbo Political Movement 19 Northern States and FCT who believe in unity, enterprise, and progress, are throwing our full weight behind the re-election of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, in 2027.”

According to him, the group arrived at the decision after reviewing the administration’s performance over the last three years and consulting its members and stakeholders across the northern states and the FCT.

Onwe said the removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the foreign exchange market, although initially painful, had helped address economic leakages and improve government revenue.

He also cited infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the ongoing Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway and access roads to the Second Niger Bridge, as evidence of the administration’s commitment to infrastructure and economic development.

“These macro policies are laying the foundation for a $1 trillion economy. Nigeria needs four more years to consolidate these gains,” he said.

The group also commended the administration’s programmes targeting micro, small and medium enterprises, saying Igbo traders and business owners in markets across Kano, Zaria, Kaduna and the FCT had benefited from government interventions.

Onwe said: “The Igbo man is a trader, an industrialist, and an innovator. We live and die by microeconomics. This is where we have seen direct impact.”

He further commended the reported increase in the monthly allowance of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members from N33,000 to N77,000, describing it as evidence that young Nigerians deserved improved welfare.

“For us in the North, where thousands of our sons and daughters serve in every state, this welfare improvement means dignity, motivation, and hope,” he said.

The group said its support would extend beyond the presidential election, pledging to mobilise votes for APC candidates contesting governorship and legislative elections across the 19 northern states and the FCT.

Onwe said the movement would deploy its structures and grassroots members to campaign for the party and educate supporters on the policies and programmes of the administration.

“We pledge to vote for candidates running for Governorship and Legislative positions under APC across the 19 Northern states and FCT,” he said.

“We are mobilising all our structures across the 19 Northern States and FCT to vote massively for APC.”

He said the movement was committed to ensuring that “our up to two million voters vote APC in the forthcoming election.”

However, during the question-and-answer session, Onwe clarified that the two million votes represented a minimum target.

“So we are giving all APC candidates a minimum of two million votes. It can be more, it can be times two or more,” he said.

Asked why the group endorsed Tinubu rather than Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate and an Igbo, Onwe said the movement’s political focus was the North.

“Here, we are not here for Peter Obi. We are here for Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said.

“And our investment is in the North. Like I said in my address, I said we are here in northern politics. And we are here for Tinubu. We are not here for another candidate.”

On the agitation surrounding the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, Onwe declined to take a detailed position, saying the matter was one for the government to address.

“The issue of Nnamdi Kanu, the government knows what to do,” he said.

“I’m speaking on behalf of the Igbo community in my team of consultants. I don’t think it’s our job to discuss that.”

Onwe urged Nigerians to reject ethnic bigotry and divisive politics, saying political leaders should be judged by their performance rather than their ethnic or political affiliations.

“We call on all Nigerians to shun division, politics of bitterness and ethnic bigotry. Let us judge leaders by results,” he said.

“President Tinubu, the Igbo nation in 19 Northern states in Nigeria and FCT is with you. Finish the job you have started,” he said.

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