Former Vice President Atiku Ababakar has appointed Dr. Benjamin Chika Ugwu as Special Assistant and Coordinator of support groups in the Southeast region ahead of the 2027 election. The appointment was announced in a statement by the Atiku Media Office in Abuja on Thursday. Ugwu, a former Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan from 2010 to 2015 on Projects and Special Duties, will oversee support group activities across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states. His responsibilities include coordinating, professionalizing, and supporting all Southeast-based groups aligned with Atiku.
Dr. Ugwu, born on 22 December 1970, holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Studies, a Postgraduate Diploma in Economics, a Master's in Economics, and a doctorate in Petroleum Economics. He has served in various roles, including Regional Director for the African and Caribbean Business Council covering Northern, Eastern, and Western Africa, and Director of Projects and Programming at the Project for Human Development NGO in the UK and Nigeria. He also worked as Manager at the Credit Control Management Fund in London and Lagos and is currently Director General of the Ikenga Award for Excellence Foundation.
Ugwu is Executive Director of the Ben Ugwu Foundation, which carries out philanthropic initiatives. He is a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR), a Fellow of the Corporate Institute of Administration, and holds the traditional titles of Okeagu Ndigbo and Ezeanyanwu Edem.
Atiku appoints a former aide to Goodluck Jonathan—a president whose administration failed to secure a second term—to lead his 2027 Southeast campaign, raising questions about the strategy behind recycling political figures linked to past electoral defeats. Dr. Ugwu's extensive履历 includes roles in UK-based organizations, yet his appointment focuses solely on Southeast Nigeria, a region with no stated connection to his background or documented grassroots presence. If support groups in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo are to be professionalized, voters in those states deserve clarity on how a figure with no known political base there will achieve it. The move signals a top-down approach that may overlook existing local dynamics in the region's political landscape.
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