Minister of Labor and Employment, Chris Ngige, is of the opinion that if the PDP, fields a presidential candidate from the North come 2023, they will perform woefully. Ngige said this during an interview with Vanguard.
The Minister who is a chieftain in APC said this while responding to a comment made that PDP might be delaying its presentation of its presidential candidate for the 2023 election so as to see the candidate the APC would field. The reporter had mentioned that there are speculations that the PDP might field a Northern candidate if APC fields a Southern candidate.
Responding, Ngige averred that voters are wiser now and that the Northern electorates will wonder what the Northern leaders have done for them over the years.
”The PDP top apparatchik think they are smart. They want to play a fast one. They are waiting for APC to say ‘South.’ Their calculation is that when that happens, they will go North. Number one, that will be an act of bad faith because it will mean that they have taken the people in the South-South and South-East that have all along supported PDP 90 percent in all the elections, for a ride.
In the 2011 election, I was the only opposition candidate in the former Eastern region that won election. I was the only one among the entire three senators per state, in the five states of the South-East and six South-South states, except Edo where we had Uzamere and Domingo Obende. Those who later became APC were those who cross-carpeted after the victory of APC, like Senator Magnus Abe and others.
For PDP to say they are waiting for APC, they are playing games. It’s going to be a costly venture for them because during election, it is like a drought game. You anticipate the opponent to see the seed he wants to play next. That seed of PDP of going North will backfire. They better align with APC and if APC comes South let them come South. So, it becomes an all South affair.
However, if they go North, I can tell them that as it is today, they will lose the presidential election, no matter the candidate they bring from the North. The South-Easterners will feel that they have been used and dumped. The South-Southerners will feel that they have been used and dumped. The South-Westerners will feel it is the turn of South as the Southern governors said.
In the North-Central, there is a minority sympathy in the Middle-belt. There is also minority sympathy in North-East. Those who are doing the calculation to go North and bring a million votes will be disappointed because even those voters, you think will be doing North for North, Muslim for Muslim, will not go with you. The voters are wiser. What has past Northern leaders done? Did they do things for the North like Ahmadu Bello did? Did they do things for them like Tafawa Balewa? Did they do things for them like Aminu Kano? The answer is no. So, if the PDP makes that mistake, they will have a severe beating more than they received from Buhari.
