Why is Tinubu not consulting South-East stakeholders?

The presidential aspirant was in Oyo State during the weekend where he visited the palaces of Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Rasheed Adeyemi, and the Olubadan of Ibadan, Lekan Balogun.

Tinubu, who made his presidential ambition known to the public after informing President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock a few weeks ago, said he is still consulting with stakeholders ahead of the presidential election.

The former governor of Lagos State has visited many political, traditional, and religious leaders across the country, particularly in the north and south-west, after informing Buhari of his presidential ambition.

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Tinubu has visited the former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, in Niger State, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, and many prominent Nigerians across the Federation.

However, the former governor hasn’t visited the Southeast and the South-South geopolitical zones since he started the consultation for his presidential bid.

What could be the reasons why Tinubu is not visiting the south-east and South-South zones like he is doing in other zones?

In my opinion, Tinubu is not visiting the south-east and south-south geopolitical zones for the following reasons:

First, the two zones are strongly controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Since the return of democracy in 1999, the PDP has maintained dominance in the zones, particularly the south-east.

The PDP always wins the south-east with a large figure in every presidential election. Even when a prominent son of the region, Ojukwu, contested for the presidency in 2003, he lost his home to the PDP candidate.

Tinubu might have a hard time getting people in the south-east to back him for president in 2023.

Second, Tinubu might be unwilling to visit Igbo land for consultation because prominent sons of the region are also contesting for the presidency under the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

The governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, Rochas Okorocha, and Orji Uzor Kalu are prominent Igbo sons who have declared their intentions to run for the presidency under the APC in 2023. It will be difficult for stakeholders in the south-east geopolitical zone to abandon their sons for Tinubu.

What could be the reason why Tinubu is not consulting Igbo stakeholders like he is doing in the North?