The South East zone of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has adopted Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu as its leader in the geopolitical zone.
The adoption came Thursday following a meeting at the minister’s country home in Uburu, Ebonyi State.
APC National Vice Chairman (Southeast), Chief Emma Eneukwu moved the motion for the adoption of Onu and was supported by eminent personalities including former governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime; Senator Ayogu Eze; Chief George Moghalu; Amb. Fidel Ayogu; Chief Mark Wabara, among others.
Onu, who expressed delight at the endorsement, appreciated the party chieftains for the support.
He however expressed regret that the South East zone was the only one in the country without a governor elected on the APC platform.
According to him, the party’s success in the zone would continue to be limited until party leaders and members developed a spirit of forgiveness.
Onu said he was happy that there were no longer factions in the party.
The minister further said that the zone must win three governorship seats for the party in the 2023 general election.
He added, “We will have majority of the seats in the national assembly coming from the south east. We will also have the majority of the seats in the houses of assembly in our various states. So that we will be producing a minimum of three speakers. So that once we do this it will help us.
“Then nobody will ever say that South East has not made contributions to the party. Let us also congratulate ourselves because if you look at the election records the South East has the greatest percentage increase in terms of supporting Mr President in 2019 as against 2015.
“The total vote from the south east may be the smallest but if you look at the percentage increase between the two elections the greatest among the six geopolitical zones is coming from the south east. This in signal is reassuring and is telling all those who can look deep into matters that there is the potential for the South East to turn around and be the base of APC in the future. This we can do and this I believe with the help of the almighty we will do.
“Because when we do this, there will be more opportunities for our members. We will not only be looking for appointments at the federal level, we will also be getting those appointments at the state.”