•They were full of impunity which destroyed them — Archbishop Opoko
•Our people need responsive govt —Prof Ofoeze
•People expressed anger over bad governance —Obasi
•Our people expressed dissatisfaction, need for change —Chekwas Okorie
•The old order has failed us, we decided to throw them out

The recent election was very remarkable in the South-East region for one major reason – sweeping away many old political leaders who have been in the saddle for many years.

They had been dictating the political pace in their various states and constituencies. But like a whirlwind, the majority of them were swept out of their age-long political hold on their people. Simply put, they were totally rejected by the people.

Their loss was attributed to non-performance and the desire of the electorate to have new political leaders in the region.

Our people expressed dissatisfaction, need for change —Chekwas Okorie

Notable Igbo politician, Chief Chekwas Okorie said the political leaders in the South-East lost woefully in the 2023 general election because the masses expressed dissatisfaction with their leadership and voted for a change and new leadership.

Okorie, the founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and former Presidential candidate of the United Peoples Party, UPP, commended the resolution of the people of the zone for rising up to the occasion.

Okorie said: “What happened is that the people spoke and they rejected a number of people who had led them over a number of years, showing that they were not satisfied and so they needed a change, a change of guard in all the positions. It is very sad for any person to have been governor for eight years, only to lose a senatorial election which is one-third of an area you presided over.

“It tells a lot about the way INEC conducts elections; those results show that once votes are allowed to count, the people who have the power, the true sovereigns who have the power to decide who leads them, will continue to hold sway.

“What I will say is that going forward we need to emphasize and consolidate the technology already introduced in our voting process. That technology needs to be consolidated and improved upon. Since 2012, I’ve been championing the cause of electronic voting. We have not got there yet; this is not electronic voting but the technology has improved.

“So, between now and the next election cycle, that is the general election, I will embark on more canvassing for electronic voting. Now that I am in opposition, back to APGA, two things that will characterize my opposition majorly will be a campaign for the restructuring of Nigeria and electronic voting as a second priority, because if you don’t have people to vote and vote freely, where a thug has no role to play because there will be no ballot box for him to go and carry and then all these threats, Igbophobia and whatever phobia we find in Nigeria will disappear.”

Our people need responsive govt, hence the change —Prof Ofoeze

A Professor of Political Science, Professor Hartz Ofoeze of the Abia State University said the old leaders were rejected because they failed to deliver to the people the change that they much desired. The people believed that the sacked leaders were not actually leading them well, so, they wanted a change. The don advised the new political leaders to listen to the masses that voted them into power and seek to promote their welfare.

“If those who have emerged can learn from history, they will know that they should listen to the masses and work for them.

“Nigerians are now more politically enlightened, and not ready to take just anything. They want to see dividends of good governance. They want to see responsive and responsible government.”

Sacked politicians failed the people —Abia NMA chairman

The Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, Abia State chapter, Dr. Isaiah Abali said many of the political leaders were rejected because they failed the people. He regretted that most of them were rather interested in pleasing their godfathers instead of working for the masses.

“The old order has failed us so we decided to throw them out. The way they were doing their things made people reject them. They were busy pleasing their godfathers and leaving out the people that elected them into power,” he said and advised those newly elected to avoid the mistakes of the rejected old order and pander towards the masses.
“Leaders should know they were elected by the masses.

They should not betray the confidence reposed in them. The Abia Governor-elect, Dr. Alex Otti, was not the only candidate that contested against the ruling party’s candidate but he won because the people had implicit confidence in him. So, he should try not to betray his confidence.

“The new leaders should not do things in the traditional way like Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala advised Otti during the inauguration of his Transition Council. They should stop trying to be media governors who get praised in the media by their cronies but underperform in real terms.”

The Methodist Bishop of Umuahia Diocese, Archbishop (Dr) Raphael Chibuzor Opoko, in his contribution, said: “A good wine needs no bush. The former leaders were rejected because of abysmal performance. If they had done well irrespective of the political party, the people wouldn’t have rejected them.

“For instance, come to Umuahia and move around, and judge if it looks like a state capital. If government provides the people with the fruits of democracy, such government will last.

“Note that people do not intentionally vote in any person but they intentionally vote out people.

That means that those who are privileged to come to power now should be careful to avoid the errors of the people they replaced. When politicians begin to engage in impunity, they feel nobody can do anything to them, and they carry on as if they are gods. Then God will come down and show them there is only one God. Some of them are even lucky they are still alive and maggots did not eat them up like Herod.

“So, the new leaders should avoid impunity because we will not wait until four years before we begin to mobilise against them.”

Anambra residents lament failure of their leaders

In Anambra State, those who spoke to South-East Voice said most of the incumbent lawmakers who had been in Abuja for two terms or more, have nothing to show. Citing the case of Ekwunife, a political analyst, Chief Maduako Okeke said apart from building few bungalows for some women, there is nothing concrete to show for all the time she had spent in the National Assembly. According to him, the Anambra Central Senator was often absent whenever important debates were taking place in the Senate.

He also cited the case of Senator Stella Oduah who, despite all the years she has been in the Senate, could not influence the completion of the Onitsha-Atani-Ogwuikpele road that had been under construction for decades.
Okeke said: “While federal lawmakers from the North and South-West of the country are attracting legacy projects to their areas, including rail lines and highways, those from this part of the country are only interested in fighting to retain their seats at every election cycle. Perhaps God used the emergence of Peter Obi in the political scene to stop these people; otherwise, some of them might have gone back, thereby stagnating the economic and infrastructural growth of the South-East geopolitical zone.”

Learn from what happened, Prof Igwe admonishes newly elected

A professor of political science, Prof. Obasi Igwe advised the newly elected politicians in the region to learn from what happened in the last elections and work for the people who chose them. He advised them to shun corruption, and embrace progressive political thought and action, insisting that only unity would help them to develop the zone.

Ndigbo’ll soon come up with stronger voice—Ezeife

Former civilian governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife while expressing hope for a better life for the people of the region said that Ndigbo is presently working out modalities to come up with a stronger voice in the scheme of things.

Ezeife said that the outcome of the last election was a matter of the choice of the electorate, coupled with the quest for a new Nigeria as is being canvassed by the Obedient movement.

Obi Igbo Forum, IIF, an Igbo socio-cultural organisation in their contribution charged the newly elected political office holders to start on time to introduce town hall meetings so as to know where the nail pinches the electorate, as a way forward for the South-East geopolitical zone.

National Chairman of IIF, Dr. Mike Ikegulu said those voted out in the last election in the region engaged themselves in utter disregard for the collective interest of Ndigbo and pursued personal agenda.
“In as much as we felicitate with Victor Umeh, Okey Ezea, Ikenga Imo, Enyinnaya Abaribe and others who we hope will lead the charge for the Igbo spirit, we wish to celebrate the new political consciousness pervading the South-East zone,” Ikegulu said.

People expressed anger over bad governance—Obasi

An Igbo community leader, Chief Jerry Obasi, attributed the rejection of most political office holders in the South East zone in the 2023 general elections to the expression of anger over bad governance by the people.

He stated that the electorate in the zone used the elections to register their grievances over the inability of the political officeholders to address the high rate of poverty, crime and unemployment in the zone.

Obasi said that it is shameful that the provision of roads, bridges, water, electricity and housing is still being used as objects of electioneering every four years as politicians hardly keep their campaign promises.

“As a matter of fact, the electorates of the South-East zone used the just-concluded election to register their protest against their so-called political office holders. If you critically assess the elections, you will observe that it was a fight between the people who wanted change and new faces in governance and those who wanted the status quo to be maintained. The traditional rulers who are deliberate supporters of the political class even lost the loyalty of the people who see them as collaborators in the misrule that has been on for a long time.

“It is shameful that we are still campaigning with the issues of road, bridge, electricity, water, housing and education as officeholders hardly keep their promises. It was simply a protest against bad governance; it is a mass protest against the elites using the Obidient movement. Some of the elected office holders forgot their people and relocated to Abuja, only to return when elections are around the corner. Those who were successful in the elections, they should learn from the mistakes of their predecessors and attract projects and employment opportunities to make life meaningful for the people of the South-East. It is no longer a period of relocating to Abuja and forgetting your people who elected you to the position.”

The Chairman, Action Alliance, Imo State, Comrade Ifeanyi Okponwa-Eze said the leaders were self-centred and lacked political will, hence the rejection. He said the leaders were neither ready to develop the region nor protect the people. He described the outgoing South-East Governors’ Forum as the worst the zone has ever had.

Okponwa-Eze submitted that the leaders were only obsessed with power and wealth acquisition at the expense of the welfare of the people.

He noted that the outcome of the just-concluded general election showed that the people were tired of selfish and incompetent persons who posed as leaders. He urged the new set of leaders to make the welfare and protection of the people, as well as the development of the region a top priority.

He stated: “Two common features that defined the leaders were selfishness and lack of political will. The so-called leaders were never interested in the welfare of the people; they were obsessed with power and wealth. They deserved rejection.

“When a leader cannot work towards protection and provision for the people; is that person a leader? Under their watch, insecurity pervaded the South-East; under their watch, the South-East suffered what could be described as its worst marginalisation, both in the election of principal officers of the National Assembly and appointments by the Federal Government; yet they could neither bark nor bite. The outgoing South-East Governors’ Forum could be described as the worst the zone has ever had, in terms of providing leadership focus for the zone.

The last elections showed that the people are tired of these selfish persons. Igbo people hunger for true leadership with sense of direction and purpose.”

In his contribution, the Pastor of Highway to Grace Assembly, in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State, Rev. Chikammadu Eze, said that the old South-East politicians failed elections because they refused to address infrastructural, economic and humanitarian crises in the region, hence they were rejected by the people.

“The people already have a crisis of confidence in the government in South East. Bad political leadership in the region has brought about a dearth of basic infrastructure and has immersed the region in economic and humanitarian crises. The people are tired of bad leadership, not only in South East but Nigeria at large”.