The effect of Ifeanyi Ubah’s death on us -Anambra APC chieftain

In spite of many good things President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has done for the Ndigbo, including high-profile political appointments, some Igbo people are far from satisfied with his administration. But one Igbo leader who would not fail to acknowledge Tinubu’s deeds for the tribe is Chief Modestus Umenzekwe. He, however, believes there are certain things the President needs to do to enlist greater support from the tribe. He listed these in an Interview with South East Bureau Chief NWANOSIKE ONU. He also talks about the spate of insecurity in Anambra State, the death of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah who represented Anambra South until he passed on recently, the 2025 governorship election and the planned local government elections announced by the Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, among other issues.

Here is massive insecurity in Anambra State. What is really going on?

I am not in government. Neither am I one of the security agents. But from my own point of view, i don’t know how much my brother (Governor Chukwuma Soludo) collects as security vote from the federal government. But no matter the amount, let him rejig his strategy and invest heavily on security.

Anambra used to be a very peaceful place and home for all. But today, it is no longer business as usual. Anambra people are relocating to supposedly safer states. And that is seriously affecting the economy of the state.

Yes, I believe the governor is trying his best. But his best is not yet enough to give us what we want and reduce the insecurity in the state to the barest minimum. When you build roads and flyovers here and there, they are excellent jobs and commendable. But it is only when you are alive to move freely that you can enjoy those facilities. Otherwise, it would amount to efforts in futility.

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Insecurity has impeded all other economic indices of the state. Fortunately for us, our governor is a professor of Economics and a member of the presidential economic team of the renewed hope agenda, for which i commend him for acknowledging that the renewed hope economic policies of the President are good ones that would have long time good effects on our people. And that is why he appealed to us (Nigerians) to be patient with the President. I totally agree with him on that. But the gains patience cannot be enjoyed if we are leaving in fear on account of security.

Members of the governor’s party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA), are also not happy with him. Why?

I am not a member of APGA and cannot go into their internal wranglings. So it is left for the party to sort themselves out. The way you see things is not the way I see them. I have not taken time to access the totality of Governor Soludo’s achievements or failur because I know he said he should be given 24 months for anyone to access him. Therefore, I have not gone into that.

I am not speaking for my party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) but I’m as a true son of Anambra State who is a committed member of APC, and I know that President Bola Tinubu, whose party in Anambra State is in opposition, has given an unfettered hands to the governors, Anambra State inclusive, to sort out security issues in their states, and that is the angle I am coming from.

Talking about your party, the APC, you recently lost one of the movers of the party in Anambra State, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who was gunning for the governorship seat also. How did you and your party receive the news of his death?

In my statement when the news broke, I said it is one death too many. We received the news with rude shock. His exit has created a lot of confusion because there were two of them in the race, qualified ones for that matter; himself and Chief Paul Chukwuma (Onyechinazo). I said confusion because for now, we don’t know what to do. Even Paul Chukwuma is confused too, and that is why he shut down his political activities for 30 days to mourn his friend and fellow political giant.

You see, we were thinking about how to bring the two of them together as a family, because our party is a very big and united family; to do the primary between the two of them and know whether it is Ubah or Chukwuma we should follow. So, we’re still chewing the situation and keeping quiet until we finish the funeral rites of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah. Both of them are close to me and represented themselves in person and proxy on 19th July when I buried my Very Reverend Father uncle.

So, the only thing I can tell you is that APC in Anambra State and Nigeria is still mourning. And when we come out from it, we will be able to make a statement

Do you think the people of the state are ready to embrace APC?

The answer is yes. This is because every day, even in my locality, you will see people defecting to APC, and the renewed hope agenda of Mr President has given us hope that the entire Southeast zone is part and parcel of this country. Mr President, in his magnanimity, appointed our son Senator Dave Umahi as the Minister of Works, the first of its kind since the 1960s, and gave him unfettered hands to fix all the roads in his region and make himself proud. At least, it is going to improve on what our political role model, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, did in his own time as minister, because he did a lot of roads in the Southeast, but time did not allow him to finish some. And he did all that as a lawyer.

Today, an expert in the field, who is our son, is handling the jobs. Therefore, the onus is on us Anambrarians and the Southeast to give him a backing by embracing APC in totality.

Some southeast people, especially members of the opposition parties, believe that Asiwaju Tinubu has not performed as expected in the one year he has been in office. What’s your take on this?

I don’t agree Nigerians as a people, including myself, are impatient. This President came from the background of activism. An activist is not known to segregate but to enact a whole and encompassing policies that will benefit everybody. Some of the policies he has brought out are at the foundation stage which will result into a nice building all of us will occupy.

Yes, it is a fact that we did not give him many votes, But the same thing applies to his own area (the Southwest) where some of those people are still going about in different media houses calling him all sorts of names and making nasty statements about him. Are you telling me he would starve them of the dividends of democracy in that zone or even in the North? The answer, to me, is no. I sum it up to say the patient dog eats the fattest bone. Therefore we should give him a chance.

But in your opinion as an APC chieftain in the Southeast, do you think Mr President has performed within the short time, going by his appointments?

There is one thing I always believe in, Mr A or B must not be in government to do nation building. It can only be one person. Also, he is a man that gave us one of the service chiefs. He gave works minister, and the two or three appointments he has made in the last few weeks, the people of Southeast are there. To some of us it is not yet enough, but I believe he is taking his time and our expectations will be met because there are many appointments yet to be made.

Your answer has taken care of the agitations of Igbo on appointments from Mr President. What do you think Igbo people really want?

I think that they want to be embraced totally in every sector. Because of what we suffered during the war, we were devastated, and since then, we have been crying for total rehablitation in the policy making of this country. That is why we are very glad that the President, using the instrumentality of the National Assembly, has signed into law the Southeast Development Commission SEDC as reintroduced by the Deputy Speaker, Hon Benjamin Kalu, which Senator Uche Ekwunife introduced during her time. So, by signing it into law, we believe that the three Rs of the Gowon regime (reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation) has come into effect.

Another thing we want is giving us additional state in the Southeast as recommended by Chief Arthur Mbanefo to the committee on state creation and boundary adjustment Committee 1996 as well as the National Constitutional Conference of 2014. There will be an addition to recognising and giving our sons and daughter more federal appointments.

Going forward, I’m appealing to Mr President to apply human wisdom which he is known for, and political solution to release our brother, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. This singular act, if he gives it positive attention, will bring to an end the sit-at-home exercise and insecurity bedeviling the southeast region for some years.

The Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) has fixed a date for the first council polls and it is generating a lot of controversy in the state. How do you react to it?

Credible Democratic principle is what we have been yearning for in Anambra and the entire country. The announcement is a welcomed development. But the snag there is the time frame, which I do not know if it complies with the extant electoral laws. I had expected ANSIEC to give adequate notice, at least three months. This would give every political party the opportunity to prepare and conduct primaries in order to select candidates for the various election positions.

As you can see, many political parties are threatening court actions. How long are we going to continue like that? The situation is not healthy. I appeal to ANISEC to look into the agitations of political parties and do the needful so that no political party would feel short-changed.

And if they don’t ?

There may be several court actions which will not be good for Anambra State.

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