A chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Buba Galadima, has defended calls for a political alliance between the North and the South-East ahead of the 2027 general election.

This is even as the NDC chieftain said supporters of a Peter Obi-Rabiu Kwankwaso ticket have faced criticism for their position.

Galadima made the remarks while speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Wednesday, in reaction to recent comments by the NDC’s vice-presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who advocated greater political cooperation between the North and the South-East.

According to Galadima, those backing an Obi-Kwankwaso ticket are being unfairly criticised by people who lack an understanding of Nigeria’s political history.

He argued that political alliances between the North and the South-East were not new, citing the cooperation between leaders of the Northern People’s Congress, NPC, and the National Council of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC, before and after Nigeria’s independence.

Galadima recalled that leaders such as Ahmadu Bello and Kashim Ibrahim worked alongside Nnamdi Azikiwe and other NCNC leaders during the struggle for independence.

According to him, the coalition reflected Nigeria’s unity in diversity before it was disrupted by the military coup of 1966.

Galadima maintained that the collapse of the First Republic should not be blamed on civilian political leaders, insisting that the military was responsible for truncating the democratic system.

Galadima said: “I saw what the senator has said. That’s a point that I have been making for a long time, and that statement was meant to address contemporary issues on the table in Nigeria, more so in northern Nigeria.

“This is because those of us from this part of the country that had supported the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket are being called several different names by ignorant people who have no history of the Nigerian state.

“If they heard what Kwankwaso said, it’s not new because during the First Republic and before it, I mean, before independence, the northern leaders, led by Ahmadu Bello, Kashim Ibrahim, the former governor of northern region, and a host of others had worked together with the NCNC under Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. Ndili, Chief Melford Okilo, and a host of others to fight for independence.

“And when 1960 came, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ahmadu Bello teamed up together to rescue power from the colonial masters. Then Dr. Azikwe became the president of Nigeria and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, while Balewa, representing the NPC, became the prime minister and head of government.

“And at that time, the unity and plurality of government was not in question. There was everybody in that government.

“Unfortunately, that unity in diversity was truncated in 1966. A lot of people gave it different coloration. I am sure, in my mind, that nobody would want to destroy his house. Neither did Opara, Mbadiwe, Akiloye or Akinjide, who are prominent members of that government, wouldn’t have advocated for the coming of the military.

“So, if anything had happened, I would rather blame the military than blame civilian members of that government, and certainly not the generality of the people.

“We have been called several names, saying we are bringing an Igbo man. Unfortunately, it’s not only the government of APC, even some opposition political parties, instead of us fighting our common opponent, that is the APC and its government, we are fighting ourselves.

“And we asked, where did we pick Obi from? Where did we get Obi from? We got Obi from Atiku. He was his vice presidential candidate.

“Atiku ran with Senator Ben Obi as vice presidential candidate. He ran with Peter Obi as vice presidential candidate. He ran with Okowa as vice presidential candidate. Now we are hearing he is going to run with Amechi as vice presidential candidate.

“So, can anybody supporting Atiku be right in denigrating us that we are promoting Igbo people?”