Sen. Anthony Agbo, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi, has lauded Gov. David Umahi’s decision to join the party.
Agbo said during an interactive session with newsmen in Abakaliki on Wednesday that Umahi’s action would help to integrate the South-East into the nation’s mainstream politics.
He said that the governor’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC would also help to address the alleged marginaliation of the zone in the scheme of things in Nigeria.
He said: “The defection, which is ordained by God, will bring good tidings to the Igbo nation.
“It is gratifying that he has heeded to our wise counsel and did not behave like a governor who knows it all.”
Agbo flayed the opinion in some quarters that President Muhammadu Buhari did not like the Igbos, describing it as unfounded.
“Buhari picked two Igbo sons, late Edwin Ume-Ezeoke and Chuba Okadigbo, as his running mates in his previous attempts to be the president but the Igbos still remained with the Peoples Democratic Party.
“The president, however, still maintains his love for the Igbos through his numerous projects in the zone, including the reconstruction of the Onitsha-Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway and construction of the second Niger Bridge, among others,” he said.
Agbo, who represented Ebonyi North Senatorial District (2007 to 2011), expressed happiness that Ebonyi was leading the agitation for Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction in 2023.
He said that the gesture signified the political sagacity and thoughtfulness of its leaders, notwithstanding that it remained the youngest of the five states in the zone.
“Ebonyi should not be the oldest before taking proactive steps to place the Igbo cause on the front burner.
“We should realise that the issue of a president from the zone and alleged marginalisation are inter-woven.
“When the integration of the zone into the mainstream politics is achieved, it will eliminate marginalisation and ultimately help in producing a president from the zone,” Agbo said. (NAN)
