Ganduje: Shagari Would Have Handed over to Ekwueme If Military Didn't Strike
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje has said that the South-east had its closest chance of taking the presidency, when Dr. Alex Ekwueme, a prominent son of the zone served as vice president.
The former Kano State governor pointed out that the late President Shehu Shagari would have handed over to Ekwueme if the military had not staged a coup.
Ganduje made these revelations yesterday in Nnewi, Anambra State, during a mega empowerment rally, organised by the senator representing Anambra South senatorial zone, Ifeanyi Ubah.
He harped on the need for the South-east zone to connect to the centre by joining the APC and voting in governors from the party in all the five states, adding that because of the commitment of the zone to the ruling party then, former President Shehu Shagari was strongly considering Ekwueme to succeed him.
Ganduje said: "You know when your brother, Alex Ekwueme was the vice president to our brother, Shehu Shagari. The body language was there, and if not for the military strike, your son, Alex Ekwueme would have become the president.
"I tell you this story because the road to political freedom is to key into the ruling party, and once you do that, marginalisation would be a thing of the past," Ganduje added.
Ganduje who was overwhelmed by the large crowd that attended the empowerment rally, said with what he had seen, and with the mobilisation Ubah had done, and his acceptance in the state, the South-east is ready to key into mainstream politics.
"We are astonished at the crowd that attended this rally. Our renewed hope agenda is to bring the South-east into mainstream politics. This is not an ordinary rally, but one for empowerment, and we have been informed that everybody here today will have to go back with something.
"I have seen thousands of motorcycles, tricycles, buses, generators, grinding machines, bags of rice and other foodstuff that will be distributed, and we thank Senator Ifeanyi Ubah for this," Ganduje added.
Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, who spoke at the rally said the party came to encourage Ubah to do more.
He added that President Bola Tinubu had tackled the challenges, which successive governments had failed to confront for years. He identified the removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the exchange rate as some of the hard decisions Tinubu had taken.
"Every government tried and failed, but President Bola Tinubu came and decided to confront them, and the effect is the temporary hunger that you see. That is why he decided to empower representatives with palliatives for them to go back and distribute to the people to confront hunger. That is what we are doing here today," Uzodimma explained.
Organiser of the rally, Senator Ubah, in his remarks, said Anambra people would not relent in heeding the call to integrate into mainstream politics by electing an APC governor in 2025.