Our Reporter, Abuja
In a rare show of unity, socio-cultural and political groups across the country on Monday agreed that the time for a Southeasterner to become the President of Nigeria is now. According to them, the two other legs of the tripod on which Nigeria stands have taken their turns at the Presidency.
The leaders of the socio-cultural and political groups also affirmed that where the President should come from in 2023 also matters, as zoning is legal based on the Federal Character principles.
According to them, all the political parties should zone their Presidential tickets to the South-East.
The leader of Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Pa Ayo Adebayo, said for the reason to add his voice for South-East Presidency, God has kept him alive till date.
According to the sage, at 94 years he could tell the history of Nigerian governance to a large extent, and therefore believes that the South-East people were more positioned and favoured to produce the next President after President Muhammadu Buhari.
Adebanjo also dismissed the claim of some persons that the Igbo cannot govern.
“If the choice of the presidency is based on merit today, Igbos will rule Nigeria forever,” he said.
Also, the leader of PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, and that of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, spoke at the Conference in favour of South-East Presidency.
They all emphatically stated that the time for South-East Presidency has come.
Pogu argued that “those who campaigned for zoning yesterday are now saying today that zoning and where the president comes from do not matter. Zoning does matter. If it does not matter, the PDP northern governors would not have gifted the presidency away in 2015 to another political party.”
One of the organisers of the event and former Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, said those who were asking where the Igbo aspirants were, should just take a look around the hall and see the capacity arrayed in the place. “Capacity is here; integrity is here; they are all arrayed in this hall,” he declared.
As part of the programme, the presidential aspirants were giving time to showcase their vision for Nigeria at the event organized by Nzuko Umunna under the aegis of the Greater Nigeria Conference (GNC).
Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State posited that his Presidency would create wealth that would take the youths off the streets. According to him, the insecurity in the country was as a result of the huge unemployment being witnessed in the country.
“Pa Adebanjo talked about when the country was progressing in the First Republic. It was so because the country was producing that time. What we are doing now is sharing and sharing. I am coming to make sure that Nigeria goes back to production,” Obi said.
Also, a former governor and Senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, Senator Rochas Okorocha, said other Geo-political zones would be more comfortable to entrust power to him. He also stated that he would create jobs if elected as President.
Other Presidential aspirants who spoke at the event were: former Senate President, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim; Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi; Minister of Labour and Productivity, Senator Chris Ngige; Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu; former governor of Abia State and Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu; Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa; Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; and Kingsley Moghalu among others.
In the communique issued in Abuja after the Conference and signed by Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo and Lolo Golda Obi, Chairman and Secretary respectively, the group said, “The purpose of the Conference was for leaders of the South-East and friends of the South-East to come together and make a case for all political parties in Nigeria to zone their Presidential candidacies to aspirants from the South-East.”
The group observed that the South-East of Nigeria is fully committed to the unity of Nigeria; that the South-East of Nigeria is united in supporting the ambitions of its sons and daughters aspiring to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that the South-East has supported other regions in their quests for the Presidency of Nigeria; that they are resolved in the commitment of GNC to the unity of Nigeria, as embodied in the theme of the Conference: “Together we can.”
“GNC resolves that zoning does matter, as other regions have benefited from zoning; GNC recognises that zoning is legal, as the Federal Character Principle is enshrined in the Constitution; the GNC resolved that the ambitions of all Presidential aspirants of South-East extraction will be supported, regardless of party; the GNC resolved that for equity, fairness and inclusion, it is right that all political parties should zone the Presidency to the South-East; and GNC resolves that a president from the South-East will usher in unity, peace and progress in Nigeria and, being grounded on justice, equity and fair play, will help to douse all manners of agitation in the Nigerian state. That citizen of the South-East, across all parties will work in unity to achieve the objective of a President from the South-East in 2023.”
