A former member of the House of Representatives and the 2023 senatorial candidate for Ebonyi South District, Linus Okorie has kicked against the claims that the South-East geopolitical zone was cruising with juicy appointments and federal projects allocations under the current dispensation.
This is as he stated that the zone was starkly and systemically sidelined under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, adding the non-representation of the region at the Presidential Committee on the 2025 National Population and Housing Census was another painful reminder.
The ex-lawmaker, who represented the Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency between 2011 and 2019 said this in a statement on Sunday.
He said: “The pattern of appointments and federal project allocations under President Bola Tinubu has once again highlighted the stark marginalization of the South-East in Nigeria’s governance structure.
“From the composition of the President’s closest advisers, his so-called kitchen cabinet, down to ministerial and parastatal appointments; the South East has been systematically sidelined.
“Not a single Igbo voice exists in the president’s inner circle. The recent constitution of the Presidential Committee on the 2025 National Population and Housing Census provides another painful reminder: not one of the appointees came from the South-East, despite the sensitive role of that body in shaping Nigeria’s future demographic and political balance.
“Ministerial appointments further expose this imbalance. While the constitution compels the president to appoint at least one minister from each of the 36 states, the South-East has been left with the bare minimum, five slots, three of which are junior ministers.
“By contrast; a single state, Ogun, in the South West boasts five full cabinet-rank ministers. This glaring disparity reduces the zone’s voice in national decision-making and undermines the principle of federal character enshrined in our constitution.”
According to him, the 2027 general elections was between the rulling All Progressives Congress (APC) and suffering Nigerians who find it difficult to eat three square meals daily.
“The same lopsidedness is evident in infrastructure allocation. Federal road projects, supervised by our own Dave Umahi as minister, tell a troubling story: ₦2.5 trillion worth of contracts and over 1,200 kilometers of construction have gone to the South West, while the South-East has been allocated a paltry ₦446 billion covering less than 250 kilometers.
“The North-West, North Central, South South, and North-East have all received far more substantial investments than the South-East.
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“These figures are not rhetoric; they are facts that show how our zone is being systematically deprived of its rightful share of national resources,” he added.
He also called on Umahi, to focus more on delivery projects in the zone, than ‘hoodwink’ the South-East residents with his “Igbos are better off under Tinubu” propaganda, urging the region’s population to take the voter’s card registration exercise seriously.
“It is against this backdrop that the recent proclamation by Umahi, that Ebonyi and the South-East will “vote massively for Tinubu in 2027” deserves a sober response.
“While we appreciate his desire to project loyalty to his principal and protect his office, his personal political calculations do not translate into the collective will or best interest of the South-East.
“The lived experiences of ordinary Nigerians, especially in the Southeast, contradict the narrative of inclusion he presents.
“Hunger, unemployment, insecurity, impunity, and economic hardship have worsened under this administration, leaving our people more impoverished and disillusioned than ever before.
“Indeed, the very reasons why Peter Obi won the hearts of Nigerians in 2023, his character, competence, credibility, transparency, and proven capacity, remain valid today.
“Also, the prevailing national conditions have only made Nigerians, and particularly the South-East, even more Obidient than before,” he asserted.
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