Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who represents Abia South Senatorial District, has publicly dismissed the ruling All Progressives Congress’ (APC) show of strength across political offices as fundamentally disconnected from popular sentiment at the grassroots level. The lawmaker made his assertion during a Monday television interview, where he stressed that the true measure of political support lies in the ability of politicians to openly canvass votes for President Bola Tinubu in their home communities.
He recalled a pointed question previously posed by former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi to underscore the disconnect, suggesting that while politicians may endorse the President in Abuja, they cannot replicate that endorsement in the face of public hardship in their own villages.
To drive home his point, the senator offered a specific, anecdotal challenge rooted in his own constituency, stating that he asked a colleague whether he, Abaribe, would go to Ariaria market in Aba and tell the people to vote for Bola Tinubu, concluding that such an attempt would be met with hostile public reaction. He claimed that most of the politicians currently proclaiming support for the President cannot openly do so in their home communities because they fear being “stoned,” a metaphor for the widespread public anger over the nation’s prevailing economic and security woes.
The lawmaker went further to express his strong conviction that President Tinubu would be defeated in the 2027 general election, claiming that the President did not secure a genuine victory in the 2023 polls. He stated, “Tinubu will lose in the 2027 election; he never won in 2023,” clearly positioning the opposition for a rigorous contest in the next electoral cycle. Abaribe vowed that the opposition would meet the President “in the field” and monitor every attempt to “couple together” a victory, indicating that opposition forces would be better organized and more vigilant to counter any alleged electoral malpractice that may have occurred in the previous election.
