◾As former Kaduna Governor decries low voter registration in South East
By Eze Duke, Owerri
Former Speaker and House of Assembly members for Owerri North State Constituency, Rt Hon Nnaemeka Maduagwu, held a lavish dinner in honour of Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai and Mr Peter Obi in Owerri, Imo State last Friday.
Addressing dignitaries which included political stalwarts across party lines, religious and traditional leaders, business and media personalities at the country home of Dr C. J. Oparah in Awka, Owerri, Rt Hon Maduagwu, disclosed that the gathering was not political but to honour Mallam El-Rufai who was his former boss.
In his remarks at the dinner in his honour, former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam El-Rufai while thanking Rt Hon Maduagwu for hosting him in Owerri, lamented over the low response of the South East to the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) across the nation.
El-Rufai urged the South East to mobilize all unregistered voters and young persons that have clocked eighteen years and above to go and register in order to exercise their franchise come 2027.
According to him, voter turnout in the presidential election has been on the decline since 1999, adding that this should worry true democrats.
Continuing, he advised the it is important to find out why people are not eager to vote during election and seek ways to encourage them to exercise their franchise.
The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) equally bemoaned the level of poverty in the country, stating that the number of poverty-stricken Nigerians are now more than the number of Nigerians at Independence in 1960.
In his own remarks, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in 2023, Mr Peter Obi, said every Nigerian has a role to play for a better Nigeria, expressing sadness that the nation is not able to feed her citizens despite her vast arable land.
He berated President Bola Tinubu, for always jetting outside the nation for holidays.
Mr Obi advised the president that rather than travelling outside for holidays, he should spend such resources by visiting different tourists locations in the states across the country. That way, he said, will help increase revenue from tourism for the nation.
