Why Buhari and APC need Igbo votes

Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday August 21, 2015 at 10:27:53:

Within a short time, elections would be around the corner but even before that, opposition parties led by the PDP would have already made hundreds of intelligent negative comments about the Buhari administration.

Already, one name that has stuck with the incumbent is Baba go slow, meaning a person who is slow to act and the name stuck. However, if you look at it, he is the slowest president in Nigeria's history in terms of choosing a cabinet. Oppositions say it's because he is indecisive or showing his autocratic tendencies and not fit to be a civilian president.

During the 2015 General elections, the only major Nigerian tribe which massively voted for the PDP rather than Buhari's APC were the Igbo people and that almost made him lose the election the 4th time except for God's will. Many would even agree that it was a combination of Yoruba and Hausa votes that made Buhari to win but that Igbo votes along with those oe many in the middle belt and South South were also significant as it almost gave Jonathan a second term in office except for about 2.5 million votes. A swing vote by the Yorubas or the Hausas would have killed his campaign but the Yorubas were solidly behind him thanks to the efforts of APC party leaders in the South West.

However, despite the fact that Buhari won the elections even without getting bulk Igbo votes, he knows that he's going to need it if he wants to solidify the strength of his political platform, the APC, for the long term.

It's normal or usual in Nigeria for people to always criticize the party in power and the sitting president for any bad thing happening in the country and so easy for them to vote for an opposition party they believe would bring change for them and so, Buhari and the APC will not want to wait to be criticized before trying to weaken the power of the PDP and the opposition which still controls most Igbo dominated areas in the South East as well as Nigeria's oil producing states.

With Igbo votes in their pocket, it would be easy for the APC to continue their dominance for the long term and be able to remain a ruling party sine by them there would have a truly national spread unlike now that they mostly dominate the core north and South Western states of Nigeria. The APC is also trying to avoid Yoruba states from breaking away from their grip amidst dissatisfaction from some politicians that the Buhari administration seems are bit more pro-North or Pro-Hausa/Fulani and Pro-Yoruba despite the Yoruba support he got in the 2015 elections.

Buhari and the APC would definitely not want to step on the toes of South West politicians but they are more than willing to bend over to the wishes of the people of the South East and South South if only they would join the party at the center. It's going to be hard to win Igbo votes in traditional Igbo land and in diaspora given that the Igbos can hardly be bought with money or promises as there are more likely to act with their conscience. I believe Ndigbo may consider only if Buhari and the APC government shows that it's an all inclusive government and does some sold development work much more than Jonathan did such as building a Second Niger Bridge.

With the way I see it, just building a Second Nigeria Bridge and probably naming it Buhari road would help bring a lot of Igbo votes to the APC.