Ganduje: Shagari would have Handed over to Ekwueme

National Chairman of All Progressives Alliance (APC), Dr Umar Abdulahi Ganduje, has said that South East had its closest chance of taking the presidency, when Dr Alex Ekwueme, a prominent son of the zone, served as vice president.

Ganduje stated this in Nnewi, Anambra State on Saturday, during a mega empowerment rally, organized by the senator representing Anambra South senatorial zone, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.

He harped on the need for the zone to connect to the centre by joining the APC and voting in governors from the party in all the five states.

According to him, because of the commitment of the zone to the ruling party then, Shagari was strongly considering Ekwueme to succeed him.

“You know when your brother, Alex Ekwueme was the vice president to our brother, Shehu Shagari. The body language was there, and if not that the military struck, your son, Alex Ekwueme would have become the president.

“I tell you this story because the road to political freedom is to key into the ruling party, and once you do that, marginalization would be a thing of the past,” he stated.

Ganduje, who was overwhelmed by the large crowd that attended the empowerment rally, said with what he had seen, and with the mobilisation done by Ubah and his acceptance in Anambra, the South East is ready to key into mainstream politics.

“We are astonished at the crowd that attended this rally. Our renewed hope agenda is to bring the South-east into the mainstream politics. This is not an ordinary rally, but one for empowerment, and we have been informed that everybody here today will must go back with something.

“I have seen thousand of motorcycles, tricycles, buses, generators, grinding machines, bags of rice and other food stuff that will be distributed, and we thank Senator Ifeanyi Ubah for this,” he stated.

Imo State governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, who spoke at the rally, said the party came to encourage Ubah to do more.

He added that President Bola Tinubu had confronted monsters that successive governments feared to confront for years.

He named the monsters to include removal of fuel subsidy and unification of exchange rate.

“Every government tried and failed, but President Bola Tinubu came and decided to confront them, and the effect is the temporary hunger that you see. That is why he decided to empower representatives with palliatives for them to ego back and distribute to the people to confront hunger. That is what we are doing here today,” he stated

In his remarks, Ubah, a 2025 governorship aspirant under APC, said Anambra people would not relent in heeding the call to integrate into mainstream politics by electing an APC governor.