Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has called on the Federal Government to lead the discuss on security and fast track socio economic development, national cohesion and inclusiveness so as to give the South East Zone a pride of place in the governance of the country.
Governor Ikpeazu who was speaking at the International Conference Center, Umuahia, venue of the Grand finale of a week long activity to mark the celebration of Abia @31,said the South East Geopolitical zone has suffered total neglect from the APC led adminstration of President Mohammadu Buhari since 2015.
Ikpeazu further lamented that since the inception of the adminstration of President Buhari, the South East has been excluded from the governance and top echelon positions in decision making of the country.
He said: “We have suffered under the present APC government where no Igbo man is in the top echelon of decision making, no Igbo man is anywhere.
“I recall that on the day decisions was made by the Federal Government to host “Operation Python Dance”, here in the South East, no Igbo man was there to take decisions and come to explain to us that this Python dance is just a joke. No Igbo man was there and we are saying that in the Nigeria of tomorrow, we need to be at the table, not outside the table.
“As a leader of Ndi Igbo, I only want to draw the attention of my party to the fact that there are three things the leadership of this country needs going forward. One of them is Security. we need to arrest the slide in terms of security in Nigeria.
” We also need to fast track socio economic development and National Cohesion and inclusiveness. Of all these three, the most important is National Cohesion and inclusiveness.
“Every part of Nigeria including the South Eastern part needs a voice in the PDP and if the call for our party to be sensitive to the yearnings of my people makes me look like the cry of a child, so be it.
“I will keep saying it that today, as we board the train of PDP, we need to know what is on the table for Abians and Igbos in general, that is the way to go”.
Ikpeazu who is a staunch member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, said he is not in a hurry to leave the PDP as the Party has made modest efforts in the development of Abia State.
