No previous president had done as much for the South-East
In the stadium city of Abakaliki, Nigeria's ruling party gathered to make a wager as old as governance itself: that roads built become votes earned. APC national chairman Prof. Yilwatda and Ebonyi Governor Nwifuru presented President Tinubu's infrastructure investments across the South-East as both a record of delivery and a mandate for the future, even as quieter voices within the rally acknowledged that bricks and asphalt alone cannot hold a coalition together. The South-East, long a stronghold of the opposition, has become the terrain on which the APC is testing whether development can rewrite political loyalty ahead of next year's general elections.
- The APC has staked its South-East electoral strategy on a string of road projects—the Enugu-Abakaliki dualisation, the Port Harcourt corridor, the cross-regional Calabar super highway—framing them as proof of unprecedented presidential attention to a historically neglected zone.
- Governor Nwifuru's flat declaration that the PDP has no future in Ebonyi State signals an aggressive posture, but such confidence in a region with deep opposition roots carries its own political risk.
- Beneath the triumphalism, South-East coordinator Amb. Ine issued a quiet but telling appeal for post-primary reconciliation, acknowledging that internal fractures from competitive primaries could blunt the party's momentum.
- The rally's dual message—look at what has been built, and please stay united—reveals a party that knows infrastructure announcements open doors but cannot, by themselves, walk a candidate through them.
At a stadium rally in Abakaliki, the APC's national leadership arrived with a simple argument: the roads being laid across the South-East will translate into votes. Party chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, flanked by Ebonyi Governor Francis Nwifuru and the Minister of Works, used the occasion—a formal adoption of the party's candidate slate—to position President Tinubu's infrastructure record as an electoral trump card in a region that has long favored the opposition.
The projects cited were tangible: the Enugu-Abakaliki road being widened into a dual carriageway, the Enugu-Onitsha-Aba-Port Harcourt corridor under construction, and the ambitious Calabar super highway threading through Ebonyi, Benue, and Nasarawa before reaching Abuja. Yilwatda claimed no previous president had delivered as much for the zone. Nwifuru, for his part, declared the PDP had no viable path forward in Ebonyi State—a bold assertion that reflected the party's confidence in its ground position.
Yet the rally carried a second, more cautious register. South-East coordinator Amb. Precious Emmanuel Ine called on party members to reconcile after the competitive primaries, thanking losing aspirants and delegates alike, framing the contests as evidence of democratic maturity. Her appeal for unity was a quiet acknowledgment that the APC's ambitions in the South-East depend not only on concrete poured but on a party apparatus that can hold together long enough to convert infrastructure into a governing majority.
At a stadium rally in Abakaliki, the national leadership of Nigeria's ruling party made a straightforward calculation: the roads being built across the South-East will win elections. Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the All Progressives Congress chairman, stood before a crowd gathered by Ebonyi State's governor and the Minister of Works to argue that President Bola Tinubu's infrastructure spending in the region gives him an unbeatable advantage heading into next year's general election. The party had come to formally adopt its slate of candidates, and the message was clear—development translates to votes.
Yilwatda's confidence rested on concrete projects. The Enugu-to-Abakaliki road is being widened into a dual carriageway. The route connecting Enugu through Onitsha, Okigwe, and Aba to Port Harcourt is under construction. The Calabar super highway, threading through Ebonyi, Benue, and Nasarawa states before reaching Abuja, represents the kind of cross-regional infrastructure that politicians invoke when they want to claim they've delivered something tangible. Governor Francis Nwifuru, speaking at the same event, suggested the list was too long to enumerate—a rhetorical move that implies abundance. Yilwatda went further, asserting that no previous president had done as much for the South-East zone.
The political stakes are high. Nwifuru used the rally to declare that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party has no viable path forward in Ebonyi State in the coming election, a bold assertion that signals the APC's confidence in its ground position. Yet beneath the triumphalism, there was also an acknowledgment that the party needed to consolidate. Amb. Precious Emmanuel Ine, the South-East coordinator for Tinubu's grassroots mobilization effort, called for unity and reconciliation among party members in the aftermath of the primary elections. She thanked the aspirants who lost their bids, the delegates who participated, and the rank-and-file members who had engaged in what she described as a demonstration of the party's democratic maturity.
That appeal for internal cohesion suggests the APC recognizes that winning the South-East—a region that has historically leaned toward the PDP—requires not just infrastructure announcements but also a party apparatus that functions without fracture. The primary contests had concluded across various levels, and Ine's message was that those contests, however competitive, needed to be converted into unified campaign energy. The infrastructure projects give the party something concrete to point to. The unity message suggests the party understands that concrete alone is not enough.
Notable Quotes
What the President has done for the zone has not been done by any other President— Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, APC National Chairman
The projects are too numerous to count— Governor Francis Nwifuru, referencing Tinubu's infrastructure in the South-East
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does the APC leadership think roads will change voting patterns in the South-East?
Because roads are visible. They connect towns, reduce travel time, enable commerce. When a voter drives on a newly paved highway, they experience the government's presence in a way a policy announcement never achieves.
But the South-East has voted PDP for decades. Can infrastructure really shift that?
It can shift some voters, especially in areas where the opposition has underdelivered. But the APC's confidence also reflects uncertainty—they're emphasizing projects because they need a tangible story to tell.
What about Nwifuru's claim that the PDP has no place in Ebonyi?
That's campaign rhetoric, but it also reveals anxiety. If the APC were truly dominant, they wouldn't need to declare it so forcefully. The statement is meant to demoralize opposition supporters and signal inevitability to wavering voters.
Why did Ine emphasize unity and reconciliation?
Because primary elections create losers. Aspirants who didn't win their party's nomination might sit out the general election or work half-heartedly. Ine was essentially asking them to swallow disappointment and channel their energy into the main race.
Is infrastructure enough to win an election?
No. It helps, especially if voters feel neglected. But elections turn on multiple factors—local grievances, candidate credibility, economic conditions, turnout mechanics. Infrastructure is one argument among many.