By Tony Edike
ENUGU — PIONEER National  Secretary and National Treasurer of Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, Dr. Sam Nkire, has expressed support for the proposed alliance between Congress for Progressive Change,  CPC, and PPA ahead of the 2011 general elections.

He said if only the alliance was to end the present “winner takes all” stance of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the country, it should be endorsed.

Speaking with Vanguard in Enugu, yesterday, Dr. Nkire, who described himself as an apostle of zoning, said another reason he took this position was that such an alliance would ensure that “Igbo are not zoned out in 2015.”

Nkire said zoning had become a matter of life in Nigeria which could not be stopped until the Igbo, which is the third largest tribe in Nigeria, produced a president.

According to the PPA chieftain, without zoning, Ngwa people of Abia State and Idoma people of Benue State will never be able to produce governors in their states.

He added that since the PDP had jettisoned zoning arrangement for selfish reasons, the surest way for PPA to produce a president soon was to forge an alliance with parties which believe in zoning.

He was optimistic that Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu would step down for General Muhammadu Buhari if only an Igboman will be president in 2015.

The PPA chieftain, however, called on members of the party, especially  in the South-East, to ensure 100 per cent registration in the voter registration in January next year.

Dr. Nkire said PPA would give free and compulsory education at primary  and secondary school levels in every state controlled by the party in 2011, adding that voters’ card would be demanded from parents before  enrolment.

He said he was sure that PPA would win governorship seats in three South East states in 2011 because of  the tremendous support the party currently enjoyed in the zone.