A member representing Okigwe South federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, has frowned at the growing recriminations on President Mohammadu Buhari over failure of the South-east zone to produce the Speaker for the green chamber, adding that the President ‘is not to blame.’
Nwajiuba, a member of the Accord Party who joined the race for speakership race late told political stakeholders in the South-east to look inwards and identify politicians in the zone whose actions undermined the collective interest of the zone instead of attacking President Buhari after losing out in the National Assembly race, particularly the office of the Speaker.
Nwajiuba, however, faulted former Governor of Imo state Owelle Rochas Okorocha for “spurning entreaties by President Buhari to facilitate the zoning of the Speakership position to the South East.”
In a statement the lawmaker issued in Abuja on Sunday, to thank his supporters for backing him in the contest for the office of the Speaker, Hon Nwajiuba condemned attempt to blame outsiders for the zone’s failure to produce speaker.
“I wish to urge restraint by some persons and groups in the South East who are quick to attack unjustifiably Mr. President over the current state of events. Nothing can be further from the truth. Mr President does not hate Ndigbo and has no reason to. As a matter of fact, it was Mr. President’s sincere wish to have the Speaker emerge from the South East and his attempts for that to happen were thwarted.
“As a matter of fact, the Presidency pressed the then APC governor of Imo state (Owelle Rochas Okorocha) to allow a level playing field for the House of Representative primaries to facilitate the zoning of the Speakership office to the zone.
The Governor refused. His attempt at imposition and the resistance that ensued destroyed the cohesion of the party in the state, undermined the primaries, leading to its nullification by the court. I was thus compelled to seek agreement with other aggrieved members of APC to contest the Okigwe South federal seat on the platform of Accord Party.
“While attacking Mr. President seems expedient and easy, the truth is that there are facts that may not be available to some of those who do this. We in the South East must realise that if today we feel left out, it is simply because of the political actions by our leaders and we must not shy away from being introspective and taking responsibility.”
Nwajiuba advised that the way forward for the zone is not to engage in the current recriminations and buck passing but rather to engage the administration constructively while lending support to the government.
“So, the way forward for the South East is to, as I said earlier, engage with Mr. President and his administration, offer support and make constructive demands. To engage in name calling, abuse, outright lies and propaganda is an unhelpful route. We are a major stakeholder of this country and deserve to be recognized and treated as such but we must also be very astute in our political maneuvering. To neglect that and busy ourselves in destructive politics will take the South East nowhere”, he said.
