There is something deeply unsettling in the political behaviour of the Southeast at this historical moment. At the very time when geopolitical logic, rotation arithmetic, national appetite for fairness, and bare constitutional equity all align in favour of a Southeast presidency in 2027, a segment of Eastern leaders, especially those of APC extraction, are openly campaigning for a second term for President Tinubu.
To the casual observer, this looks like ordinary partisanship. To those who understand political timing, it looks like collective suicide dressed as strategy.
Let us ask the only question that matters:
What exactly is Tinubu offering the Southeast in exchange for relinquishing its only viable shot at the presidency in 24 years?
Is he offering to hand over to the Southeast in 2031? Impossible, because power rotates back to the North by 2031 under the same logic that brought him in. Is he offering a Vice President slot in 2031? To which region? Under which party? On what guarantee? Yemen and Libya entered war because of vaguer agreements.
If Tinubu completes another four years, the rotation matrix becomes:
1999–2007: South West
2007–2010: North
2010–2015: South South
2015–2023: North
2023–2031: South West (again)
From 2031 to 2039, power swings back to the North. Which means the Southeast is being told to wait until 2039 to “try their luck” for the first time since 1960.
Let us be honest for once: is this not madness?
THE PERSONAL AMBITION PROBLEM
The tragedy here is not ideological, it is personal. Many of the Southeast actors campaigning for a second Tinubu term are doing so for:
Appointments
Contracts
Investment cover
Pipeline access
Survival networks
EFCC immunity
Political insurance
These are rational individual calculations. But collective politics is not about individual survival, it is about group positioning within the federation.
If the Yoruba elite reason collectively, and the Northern elite reason collectively, and even the Ijaw elite reason collectively, why must the Igbo elite reason as individuals?
What kind of elite class trades historical rotation slots for political souvenirs?
Odikwaegwu. Dem do us juju for real. Because no other region behaves like this.
WHEN DID THE SOUTHEAST BECOME THE ONLY REGION WITHOUT A RED LINE?
Every region in Nigeria has a red line:
The North will never relinquish defence and security control.
The South West will never relinquish economic policy and federal bureaucracy.
The South South will never relinquish control over petroleum debates.
The Middle Belt will never relinquish self-defence on farming land.
What is the Southeast’s red line?
What does it refuse to trade?
What does it refuse to compromise?
If the answer is nothing, then the Southeast is not a political bloc, it is a marketplace.
WHAT IS THE NARRATIVE THEY ARE USING?
The narrative being deployed to justify supporting Tinubu again in 2027 revolves around three hollow points:
“We must be loyal to the ruling party to get benefits.”
But what benefits? Where is the evidence of infrastructure, inclusion or policy gain today?
“We need to re-connect to the center.”
Re-connect for what? To clap while rotation bypasses us again?
“We cannot oppose the government and expect development.”
A dangerous lie. Lagos developed under military and PDP while Tinubu opposed the center for 16 years.
Meanwhile, nobody has answered the only rational question:
What do we get in 2027?
Not personal appointments, those expire.
Not contracts, those go to contractors.
Not promises, those evaporate after results.
What does the Southeast as a collective get in exchange for surrendering the 2027 presidential claim?
Silence.
ARE WE VOTING FOR SUFFERING AS A POLICY?
And then there is the economic side. How do you approach a suffering population dealing with:
Inflation
Naira collapse
Fuel poverty
Food shortages
mass unemployment
insecurity
bandit taxation
factory shutdowns
exodus of youth
and tell them that the sensible thing to do is renew the mandate of the same government that produced the hardship?
On what moral logic? On what economic justification? On what developmental evidence?
What exactly is the sales pitch for 2027?
“We know you are bleeding, but please be patient while your region forfeits its only political window since 1999”?
Who are we deceiving?
THE QUESTION NOBODY WANTS TO ASK PUBLICLY
So let us ask it here:
Are Southeast political leaders representing the Southeast, or are they representing themselves?
Because if the answer is the latter, then the masses have no obligation to follow them.
The Yoruba follow Yoruba leaders because Yoruba leaders defend Yoruba interest.
The Hausa follow Hausa leaders because Hausa leaders defend Hausa interest.
The Fulani follow Fulani leaders because Fulani leaders defend Fulani interest.
The Ijaw follow Ijaw leaders because Ijaw leaders defend Ijaw interest.
Why must the Igbo be the only people expected to follow leaders who do not defend Igbo interest?
To follow such leaders is not loyalty, it is mass political suicide.
THE ONLY SENSIBLE PATH
A mature people must always distinguish between:
individual ambition and
collective interest
The Southeast must decide, and decide soon, whether it intends to negotiate 2027 as a region, as a bloc, as a demographic, and as a political constituency, or whether it intends to die as scattered individuals seeking invitation cards to Abuja dinners.
Because at the end of the day the federation respects only one language:
power respects blocs, not individuals.
If we refuse to become a bloc, we should not cry when the federation treats us as spectators.
By Hon Chimazuru Nnadi-Oforgu
Duruebube Uzii na Abosi
OBLONG MEDIA UNLIMITED 
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