African Democratic Congress, ADC, has faulted the endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for re-election by South-East All Progressive Congress, APC, saying the move negates the reality of the Igbo under the Tinubu administration.

The National Coordinator of ADC Like-Minds, Comrade Adolphus Ude, stated this while reacting to Saturday’s endorsement of President Tinubu for a second term by South-East APC stakeholders and their pledge to mobilise massive votes for his re-election in the 2027 general elections.

The decision was the outcome of a high-level South-East APC meeting in Enugu, attended by the three APC governors in the region, lawmakers and other party leaders.

Commenting on the outcome of the meeting in a press release on Sunday, Ude, who was the foundation Deputy Chairman of APC in Enugu State, accused the South-East APC governors of engineering the endorsement of Tinubu for their own selfish interests and not the interest of the Igbos.

Stressing that the governors were merely trying to consummate their individual relationship with the President, he claimed that nothing has been done by Tinubu in the South-East geo-political zone to warrant anybody in Igboland to endorse him for re-election.

Ude lamented that the Tinubu government had grossly marginalised the South-East region, both in the allocation of federal infrastructure, intervention funds and political appointments.

“One of the governors said they want to align with the centre. Which centre is he talking about? The centre that has marginalised Igbos with impunity since Tinubu became the President on May 29, 2023? If Igbos could not benefit anything from their purported alliance with Tinubu in the past 31 months, is it in the remaining 16 months of this his administration that he will create a state for the South-East?

“Please, these governors should stop offending the sensibilities of Ndigbo with reckless abandon. Enough of their endorsements. Hard-earned properties of Igbos are being destroyed in Lagos since after the 2023 general election because of the way our people voted during the election.

“Rather than go there to know what is happening, the South-East governors and their co-travelers in the Tinubu endorsement, relaxed with their backs resting on the sofa in an air conditioned hotel in Enugu and issued an endorsement for the President, whereas their brothers and sisters are roaming the streets of Lagos homeless,” Ude said.

Speaking further, Ude insisted that what happened in Enugu last weekend was a few governors, engineering an endorsement for the re-election of the President, adding that the marginalised masses of the South-East did not endorse anybody.

He challenged the orchestrators of the endorsement to pinpoint the tangible benefits that the masses in Igboland have gotten from the Tinubu government since it came on board in 2023.

Ude accused the South-East governors of pursuing an alliance with the centre, to enable them make money to invest in luxury projects that benefit them individually, while they are taxing the people to death.

He said: “Instead of using the only power plant built by Professor Barth Nnaji in Aba to power the region, the governors are embarking on building luxury hotels and establishing state airlines that will not benefit the poor masses. They are killing the poor masses with taxation and high electric tariff.

“They are busy talking about forming an alliance with the centre for the development of the South-East, forgetting the lessons of history. In the 1960s, the Eastern region witnessed massive economic growth and development under the leadership of Dr. Michael Okpara as premier.

“During that era, South-East ranked among the fastest growing economies in the world, alongside the Asian Tigers, namely, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea.

“Okpara invested heavily in agriculture, scattering plantations and farm settlements in the region. We remember vividly that Malaysia imported the consignment of palm produce that made the country an economic power from Eastern Nigeria.

“Okpara used the revenue that he generated from Agriculture to turn the region into an industrial and manufacturing hub, establishing a gas plant, cement and asbestos factories and other economic booming business ventures. We took a trip down memory lane to set the records straight.”

Continuing, Ude regretted that the present crop of governors are not interested in developing Agriculture and agro-businesses, but only invest in building luxury projects like hotels and recreational facilities that will enrich them individually.

He berated the governors for emulating the taxation policy of the Tinubu government, rather than harness the immense economic potential of the South-East to develop the region.

According to him, the South-East governors should hide their faces in shame because the allocation going to local governments in Lagos State alone is far bigger than the allocation coming to the five states of the South-East region.

He recalled that the media reported sometime last year that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved projects worth N3.9 trillion to Lagos State alone in two years, and thus challenged the governors to enlighten Ndigbo on the monetary worth of the projects that came to the South East within the same period.

“Late last year, President Tinubu approved $1 billion Port Modernisation Project for the total reconstruction of Nigeria’s major seaports, Apapa and Tin Can Island in Lagos.

“The massive revamping work is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2026 and is expected to be concluded in 48 months. How much did the President approve for the dredging of River Niger, so that ships will start anchoring in Onitsha?

“A $700 million contract for Lagos Port renovation was reportedly awarded to ITB Nigeria, owned by the Chagoury Group, the owners of the Hi-tech Construction Company, handling the outrageously priced N17 trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal road signature project of the Tinubu administration, which bypassed the five states of then South-East, namely, Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.

“We know the trillions going to Lagos as intervention funds under Tinubu. Which state in the South-East has benefitted from intervention funds? How many agricultural interventions have the South-East gotten from Abuja?” He queried.

Commenting on events at the national level, Ude noted that for the first time, police officers in Nigeria are carrying placards, protesting against the non-payment of their benefits after working for the federal government for 35 years.

“Trump described Nigeria as disgraced nation. The South-East governors should stop making a mockery of the nation. Are they not aware of the ruling of a Canadian court, describing Nigeria as a terrorist nation.

“Let them look for something serious to do in the region, rather than forming an alliance to tax the masses heavily,” he said.