A Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Chief of Staff to the Imo State governor, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu has described any political leader or group calling for power shift from the south to the north in 2027 as unpatriotic.
He also argued that the gang-up by Coalition of opposition politicians led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Malam Nasir El-Rufai against the second term aspiration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as unfair and unjustifiable.
Nwosu who spoke on Saturday in an interactive session with reporters in Abuja insisted that Tinubu deserves a second term in office based on the power shift arrangement between the Southern and Northern parts of the country since the commencement of the democratic dispensation in 1999.
“I am solidly for the South serving its 8 years. It is unfair for anybody to say that the South should not complete 8 years. We have President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the south now, while should we at this point in time be talking of moving the power to the north.
“President Buhari just finished 8 years. It is justifiable that the south must complete its 8 years before talking of power shift.
“Those agitating for that power should go back to the north are been selfish. Whoever is supporting north to take power at this point in time is not patriotic and not a true Nigerian,” Nwosu insisted.
Admitting that coalition by political elements is a normal phenomenon in politics, he however said that the Atiku Abubakar-led coalition experiment died on arrival. He predicted that the move will not affect the electoral fortunes of the governing APC in 2027.
The 2015 Imo State governorship candidate faulted those criticizing the present administration of non-performance, arguing that 2 years was grossly inadequate to have a reasonable assessment of any administration.
He however maintained that President Tinubu has been able to record inroads in socio-economic and infrastructural developments in the country in less than 2 years in office.
On the ongoing gale of defection by members of opposition political parties to the APC, Nwosu said the development should not be seen as surprising and debunked insinuations that the country is heading towards a one party state ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He maintained that the defection cannot change the country’s multiparty status in view of the fact that opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) still have governors and other elective offices in the country.
He decried the spate of insecurity in parts of the country, but noted that tthe situation predated the present administration.
He then stressed the need to boost community policing which involves the active participation of traditional rulers, the youths and critical stakeholders to keep the peace in the entire 774 local councils of the country.
“The government need to find a way to end it. To cure a disease , you must identify the root cause of the disease first. I suggest we need community policing which will involve all the rural communities in the country. At this level the traditional rulers will be the head with helpers from the youths.
“These are the people who have the information about their localities and so they should be able to secure it with the active involvement of security agencies. Besides , we need to secure our borders with the help of the communities in those locations as well. I am happy the President met with the security chiefs and the national security adviser (NSA) to proffer a lasting solution to the menace.”
