Support for IBB soars in Enugu
Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 12:57 pm
Support for IBB soars in Enugu
By Chukwudi Achife,
Bureau Chief, Enugu
More support have continued to come the way of the presidential ambition of former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida as hundreds of people are daily registering to be members of the Nigerian Youths for Babangida (NAYOB) in Enugu State.
It was learnt that more than 20,000 people have registered with the group, making it the leading organisation in the state of all those fronting for presidential aspirants from the Northern part of the country.
Other aspirants with political structures in the state are Vice President, Atiku Abubakar whose Atiku Consensus Movement is led by Mr. Tony Nwachukwu; and former military Administrator of Lagos State Brigadier-General Buba Marwa.
The popularity of the Babangida movement is attributed to the efforts of the former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Chief Charles Egumbge.
Egumbge is said to have initiated a quarterly meeting of NAYOB that is usually attended by leading political activists. He is also said to be using the structure of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) to Babangida’s advantage in the state.
The ex-military dictator and some of his close aides are believed to have paid surreptitious visits to the state to shore up support for him in the Southeast.
Sources close to NAYOB said the group's strategy was to mobilise enough grassroots support in Enugu and other South east states to ensure that the other aspirants made no meaningful inroads into the region.
Egumgbe and other leaders of the group do not want to be drawn into the issue of a president of Southeast extraction as being chanted at every opportunity by Igbo political elite under the umbrella of Ohaneze Ndigbo.
"We will know what to do when we get there," was Egumgbe short response when asked why he is not throwing up an Igbo man for president.
By Chukwudi Achife,
Bureau Chief, Enugu
More support have continued to come the way of the presidential ambition of former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida as hundreds of people are daily registering to be members of the Nigerian Youths for Babangida (NAYOB) in Enugu State.
It was learnt that more than 20,000 people have registered with the group, making it the leading organisation in the state of all those fronting for presidential aspirants from the Northern part of the country.
Other aspirants with political structures in the state are Vice President, Atiku Abubakar whose Atiku Consensus Movement is led by Mr. Tony Nwachukwu; and former military Administrator of Lagos State Brigadier-General Buba Marwa.
The popularity of the Babangida movement is attributed to the efforts of the former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Chief Charles Egumbge.
Egumbge is said to have initiated a quarterly meeting of NAYOB that is usually attended by leading political activists. He is also said to be using the structure of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) to Babangida’s advantage in the state.
The ex-military dictator and some of his close aides are believed to have paid surreptitious visits to the state to shore up support for him in the Southeast.
Sources close to NAYOB said the group's strategy was to mobilise enough grassroots support in Enugu and other South east states to ensure that the other aspirants made no meaningful inroads into the region.
Egumgbe and other leaders of the group do not want to be drawn into the issue of a president of Southeast extraction as being chanted at every opportunity by Igbo political elite under the umbrella of Ohaneze Ndigbo.
"We will know what to do when we get there," was Egumgbe short response when asked why he is not throwing up an Igbo man for president.
