The Igbo Elders Consultative Forum has declared that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration has failed to deliver any tangible development to the Southeast.
The elders warned that, given the current state of affairs, the All Progressives Congress (APC) may struggle to secure even 25 per cent of the votes in the Southeast come 2027.
Secretary General of the forum, Prof. Charles Nwekeaku, made the declaration in an exclusive interview with The Guardian on Monday.
He said the current APC administration has neglected the region's infrastructural and economic needs.
The don was responding to the argument by some Southeast politicians that President Tinubu has done enough for the region to deserve re-election.
For instance, during the 2025 Sallah celebration with the Ebonyi Muslim community in Abakaliki, capital of the state, Minister of Works David Umahi hailed the impact of President Tinubu in the Southeast and the entire country in general
Umahi credited Tinubu with reversing years of federal neglect in the Southeast.
"Before now, many Southeast states had no federal projects. But today, the federal presence is visible across the region. That is true national integration,” Umahi said.
But Nwekeaku dismissed such claims as dishonest and unrepresentative of the people’s sentiment.
The don insisted that in 2027, the Southeast will vote for merit, accountability, and good governance and not party loyalty.
He said: These politicians saying all that represent themselves. They are selfish. They don't represent the people. Now, I ask you, go to southeast. I just came back yesterday. I missed my flight.
"I came back by road. Every 100 meters, police checkpoint or military checkpoint.
Not one kilometer now. I'm saying 100 meters in the southeast. And the road is terrible.
"The road that would take one hour would take you four hours in the southeast. So, tell me the one that the government has reconstructed. Tell me any major project they have done.
"Is it the gas project they are doing? They marginalised the southeast. Nothing in the southeast. Is it the railway? Tell me, what are they doing that warrants these governors to say that the president is doing well? Instead of telling Mr. President the truth
"The igbos will vote for merit, accountability and good governance. If things continue like this I don't think the APC will get 25 per cent in South east come 2027. We are going to retire most of these politicians.
Nwekeaku also criticised politicians defecting to the ruling APC, saying their actions was self-serving and devoid of any genuine interest in the people they claim to represent.
He further criticised the worsening economic conditions under the APC-led government.
The don added: "Why are politicians defecting? Already two or three governors from PDP have defected to APC. Why are they defecting? Were they elected under APC? What are their reasons? Because they failed to put their house in order. And because a number of them have soiled their hands.
"That's why they are trying to escape any form of investigation and that's why they are defecting. It's not that they have any major plans for the people.
"Why are they defecting to APC? I want to ask you. What has the federal government done? What is the exchange rate of the Naira now? About 1,500 and something. If you go to the parallel market, N1,600, N1,000, almost N1,700. That is the exchange rate.
"This has made the Nigerian laborer the cheapest in the world. Whether you are a professor in Nigeria, a graduate assistant abroad, earns by far more than myself and any other professor. They tell you that the governors have more money now.
"The federal government said that they have increased the minimum wage to N70,000. Now, when the minimum wage was N30,000, N8,000 or N7,500 could buy you a bag of rice. Is that not true? Today, what they say they have increased, it cannot buy a bag of rice for you."
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