23rd October 2026, NewsOrient, Politics, News, Governance And Development

The Founder of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie, has vehemently countered Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo over APGA and Ndigbo’s support for the candidacy of Peter Obi in the 2027 Presidential Election.

Chief Okorie, who is the Leader of Igbo Agenda Dialogue (IAD), a powerful voice in the region also made public the group’s support for Obi’s presidential ambition in 2027.

It would be recalled that recently, Anambra Governor Soludo of APGA publicly handed down his endorsement of All Progressives Congress’ President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election.

With the current move led personally by Chief Chekwas Okorie, the founder and pioneer Chairman of APGA, the party on which platform Obi became Governor of Anambra State, it has become clear that Soludo’s current control of APGA and the electorates in the region is fatally challenged ahead of 2027.

Initiating the move, Okorie, told reporters in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, during the week that out of all the candidates contesting for the nation’s number one job, Obi stood out as the most credible and the most fit to face the rigours of turning the parlous state of Nigeria around.

Stressing the various reasons for the choice of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC’s flag-bearer, Okorie traced the political trajectory of Nigeria and how other parts of the country had relied on the heavy support of the Igbo people, adding that it was now time for them to reciprocate, especially now that Obi’s candidature represents the best for the future of Nigeria.

Okorie said: “In the present build up to the 2027 presidential election, we painstakingly appraised all the frontline presidential candidates presented by the various political parties for the election.

“We considered their track records in the previous political leadership positions they held, their empathy and passion for the people of Nigeria, their physical fitness to rise to the onerous challenges of presiding over the country as large and heterogeneous as Nigeria.

“We also considered their probity and prudence in the management of public resources and with the outcome of this appraisal exercise, we consulted widely and extensively with all the extant groups earlier mentioned above, we came to the unanimous resolution that it will be in the best interest of Nigeria to elect Mr Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC.

“We are encouraged by the fact that Mr Peter Obi has earned the popular support of the majority of Nigerians across all ethnic and religious divide in the country.

He is also easily the most visible Nigerian presidential candidate for the 2027 election known globally.

“We are further motivated to endorse Mr Peter Obi for the office of President of Nigeria because right from the inception of Nigeria presidential system of government, Nigerians have been compelled by certain circumstances to be limited to mostly gerontocrats in their choice of President till now.

For the first time in a long time, Nigerians have a singular opportunity to massively participate in the recruitment of the President of their choice in spite of various acts of intimidation and threats being bandied around by those who are in self-inflicted panic about the obvious defeat that awaits them in free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive elections.

“We seize this opportunity to urge eligible Igbo persons in Nigeria to come out in their millions to compliment other Nigerians who have already demonstrated their willingness to give Mr Peter Obi the opportunity to provide the much needed leadership which Nigerians very much desire at this present time.”

Stressing the need for Obi to be given the opportunity to turn Nigeria around, he added: “We have a responsibility to join hands with all well-meaning Nigerians to usher in a compassionate, prudent, incorruptible leader in the person of Mr Peter Obi as the next President of Nigeria in 2027, with the able support of his compatriot who is similarly compassionate and people-oriented, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the former Governor of Kano State who is his running mate in the presidential race.

“We advise other Igbo politicians who are in other political parties, who also have the right to campaign for the presidential candidates of their choice to limit their campaigns to issues while canvassing for votes for their preferred candidates.

On why other regions in Nigeria have decided to support the candidacy of Obi, an Igbo, Okorie explained: “Igbo people are peace loving citizens of Nigeria. We have shown earlier in this address the support and collaboration our people and their leaders gave to candidates from other parts of the country and ethnic groups to win elections and form governments in the past.

“It is on record that in the First Republic, a politician of Fulani extraction called Alhaji Umaru Altine from Sifawa in Sokoto State won election on the platform of the NCNC to become the first Mayor of Enugu, the capital of Eastern Region.

“In his second term effort, he lost the nomination of his party, the NCNC. Igbo voters re-elected him as an Independent Candidate.

“It is also relevant to mention that while Chief Obafemi Awolowo was serving a prison term in Calabar Prison in the First Republic, the Government of Dr M.I. Okpara, the Premier of Eastern Region, appointed the wife of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief (Mrs) H.I.D. Awolowo, a Minister without portfolio

“In that position she received all the renumerations of a Minister on monthly basis including a chauffeur-driven Mercedes Benz car. This gesture from an NCNC government to the wife of the Leader of Action Group, a different political party, was to cushion the impact of raising a young family without her husband around. This is unprecedented in the history of Nigerian politics.

“We have cited just two examples of the traditional large heart of an average Igbo man as a way of appealing to all eligible Nigerians to eschew any form of divisive tendencies to rescue Nigeria from being held captive by gerontocrats whose idea of political power does not go beyond state capture.”

Okorie therefore said his group, the Igbo Agenda Dialogue (IAD), will escalate its campaign effort through the various networks we have linked with to ensure a resounding victory for Mr Peter Obi in 2027 presidential election.”

~ Published By NewsOrient Network

For News, Inter
views, Special Events Coverage, Advertisements, Corporate Reports, etc., Contact:
Email: Newsorientng@gmail.com

Website: https://newsorientng.com
Phone: +2348023165410; +2348064041541