By Bode Olagoke
Abuja
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the South-east region, Prince Paul Ikonne, has said that there was nothing to be worry about the recent appointments made so far by President Muhammadu Buhari, which had nobody from the region so far, adding that the president seriously had the Igbo in mind.
He, however, joined the party’s position that the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should step down for better consideration for the region.
Ikonne, who was the governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2011 election, told newsmen in an interview in Abuja that some of the appointments so far made are purely professional, saying “fighting Boko Haram is not something you do by sentiment.”
He said: “For us in APC South-east there is nothing to worry about. It is too early for anybody to begin to make such assumption considering the fact that some of the appointment so far some of them are purely professional and fighting Boko Haram is not something you do by sentiment and also more appointments are still there, sensitive ones for that matter, so anybody thinking that the president will persecute or persecuting the South-east, that person is just playing politics, and that is not the position of the Igbo.”
He reminded the president’s critics that the president actually visited the South-east not less than eight times during the last general elections.
“So, that does not show a man who doesn’t have a regard for the South-east and that doesn’t show a man who doesn’t believe that South-east is part of Nigeria, that doesn’t show a man who has anything negative.”