![Abdullahi Ganduje](http://media.assettype.com/lagoslocalnews%2F2023-05%2Ff5a32c28-5646-4402-b26b-0e54e8145c9b%2Fganduje_speaking_green_3_1024x576.jpeg?w=480&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max)
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje, has stated that the South-East's best opportunity to win the presidency came during the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme's tenure as vice president.
Speaking in Nnewi at a massive empowerment rally organized by the senator representing Anambra South, Ifeanyi Ubah, Ganduje stressed the necessity for the South-East to join the APC and support its governors in all five states for the region to become completely connected to the center.
He said that the loyalty of the Igbo people to the ruling party at that time, made then-President Shehu Shagari give Ekwueme serious consideration to succeed him.
Ganduje said when Alex Ekwueme was the vice president to Shehu Shagari. The body language was there, and if not for the military strike, he would have become the president.
He explained that he shares this story because, gaining access to the ruling party is the first step towards achieving political independence, and if that is accomplished, marginalization will end.
Overwhelmed by the size of the audience at the empowerment rally, Ganduje said that the South East was prepared to enter mainstream politics based on what he had witnessed, the mobilization of Ifeanyi Ubah, and his acceptability in Anambra.
The rally's organizer, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, declared in a statement that the people of Anambra will not back down from their pledge to elect an APC governor in 2025 to become part of mainstream politics.