By Alphonsus Nweze
The presidential candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof. Peter Umeadi, has warned of the danger of retaining power in the North in 2023. He described such as pyric victory.
Fielding questions from journalists in his Agukwu Nri country home in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State, Umeadi who was the immediate past Chief Judge of Anambra State said retaining power in the North after 2023 general election would amount to pyric victory which would be worse than losing the election.
Prof. Umeadi said: “As a student of military history there is something called pyric victory which means a general who won a war but has nothing to go home with because all his troops were lost.
So, there is a kind of victory in the coming Nigerian election and if power goes back to the North, you have won but you don’t have victory because the victory is worse than the lose. You have plunged the country into something that is regrettable.”
He said for Nigeria to get it right, it must not be winner takes it all, saying “if we are sensible and put our heads above our shoulders and want a Nigeria that will survive after 2023, then power must come to the South East. I am telling you that many Nigerians understand that.”
Umeadi said that if power comes to the South East, it should be given to his party, APGA because the party represents everything Ndigbo.
“APGA is one stop shop for repositioning Nigeria because APGA represents civil war, Ojukwu, end of the war, the Igbo man, the South East and everything inclusive,” said the former Chief Judge turned politician.
He said that APGA is prepared to deliver him in various states, Local Government Areas (LGA) and wards in the country in 2023 election.
Umeadi who became a Law Professor at the Enugu Campus of University of Nigeria, flayed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj. Gen. Monguno who advised the governors to withhold their thugs from preventing opposition parties from campaigning in their states.
He wondered how the NSA can query the governors about insecurity when the control of security is within the purview of the Inspector General of Police (IG) and other Federal security agencies.
He said the issue of security generally should be addressed not only because of election, but to allow people move about freely.
Umeadi said: “I think we have to be honest of who are killing other people and when they kill other people, where do they varnish to? Why are those issues not resolved because if you resolve the issues you are talking of sanction.”
The APGA presidential candidate said if he knew that if a crime is perpetrated and given a reasonable time, the perpetrators would be brought to book, he would not lock himself inside because he knew that anybody who goes against the law would be brought to book eventually.
But if they fail to do their duties, said Umeadi, and push the blame to the governors, that would not address the issue.
“NSA knows more than what he is saying. He is quite close on how these things happen. He is not taking the blame to the correct quarters,” said Umeadi.
He dismissed any fear that the 2023 election would not hold because of insecurity. Instead he assured that nothing would stop the election from holding as scheduled.
