The Labour Party has announced a concerted effort to prevent voter apathy in the South‑East ahead of the 2023 general election. In addition to ensuring that registered voters receive their PVCs in time, the party is implementing special interventions to boost interest in the region, recognizing its strategic importance. Dr. Ifedi Okwenna, Head of the Intervention Team for the Obi/Datti Presidential Campaign Council of the Labour Party, made these remarks in Awka, Anambra State, during a meeting with members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Anambra State Council, chaired by Comrade Emeka Odogwu, at the Godwin Ezeemo International Press Center, NUJ Secretariat.
“We at the Labour Party are making every necessary effort to achieve good results at the polls,” Okwenna said. “It would be wrong for Nigerians to support Peter Obi while the South‑East fails to vote massively for the LP presidential candidate. We are covering every nook and cranny, suspending sleep and rest, and we will not relent. In the next three weeks, the presidential election will be held, and Nigerians will choose a president from the heart.” He added that Nigerians need a leader with capacity, character, compassion, and the willpower to bring about positive change, and that “the answer is in Peter Obi,” who can help the country move forward.
Okwenna also expressed regret that, since the start of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, the South‑East has not produced a president, whereas other zones have taken turns. “By May 2023, the North, from which Atiku and Kwankwaso hail, will have produced a president for about ten years under Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari, as well as a vice‑president for six years under Namadi Sambo. The South‑West has produced a president and vice‑president for 16 years in the last 20 years—Olusegun Obasanjo and Yemi Osinbajo. The South‑South produced a president for six years and a vice‑president for two years—Goodluck Jonathan. The South‑East remains the only zone that has not produced a president in the present democratic era, and since the end of the civil war in 1970.”
Following Okwenna’s statements, Comrade Emeka Odogwu, Chairman of the NUJ Anambra State Council, thanked him and his team for prioritizing the NUJ council’s visit to the South‑East. He assured that their message of hope would be disseminated among the Igbo people to curb voter apathy.
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