Nyerere, who spoke to journalists in Owerri, Imo State, claimed that those who had stagnated the development and economy of the state for 16 years were still manipulating Ikpeazu.
Nyerere said, “Go to Abia State if you want to see bad governance, poverty, bad economy and infrastructural decay in action.
“Those who have impugned the development of the state economically and politically for 16 years are still in charge.”
When asked if he still had any interest in the governorship, he said, “The issue is if those issues that made me to contest election the last time are still there. Abia is in trouble.”
Speaking on federalism, Nyerere said President Muhammadu Buhari was not marginalising the South-East. Rather, according to the APC chieftain, the people of the region are marginalising themselves.
“President Buhari is not marginalising the South-East people as being speculated. It is the Igbo people that are marginalising themselves in this government. You don’t fight from outside. I therefore urge my Igbo brother to join the ruling party,” Nyerere said.
But the Chief Press Secretary to the Abia State governor, Enyinnaya Appolos, said it was too early for Ikpeazu to start talking about the 2019 election.
The CPS said, “On the allegation by Anyim Nyerere that the poverty level has increased in Abia, it is a way of accepting that the APC government, which he is part of, has disappointed Nigerians, including Abians.”
The governor’s spokesperson debunked the allegation that some people in the state were manipulating Ikpeazu, adding that Ikpeazu was fully in charge of the state.
Appolos said, “Nobody is manipulating the governor. There is something special about the leadership style of the governor, which has made the opposition leaders in the state to keep joining the PDP. Just yesterday, we were in Ukwa West, where Chief Sylvenus Nwachi, who is Nyerere’s party man, joined the PDP.”
