Igbo leaders from across the 5 states of the South East Thursday, restated their demand for the zone to produce the president of Nigeria in 2023, urging the various political parties to zone their Presidential tickets to South East.
The Igbo leaders made the demand at an enlarged meeting in Enugu organised by Ahamefuna Socio-cultural Organisation noting that a Nigeria president of Southeast extraction will usher in unity, peace and progress in the country.
The leaders at the Enugu Conference tagged “the need for Nigerian Presidency from the Southeast Nigeria come 2023”, asked the leading political parties; the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party to zone their presidential tickets to the Southeast, in demonstration of the equity and fairness, adding that without that efforts at nation-building would be futile.
In their resolution read by former chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, the meeting agreed that: “A president from the Southeast will usher in unity, peace and progress in Nigeria. A president from the Southeast will guarantee the cessation of agitation by youths for break up of the Nigerian state.
“That our case is sufficiently self evident and persuasive to jolt the conscience of the Nation to do justice to our people.
“That citizens of the Southeast, across all parties must work in unity to achieve the objective of Southeast Presidency in 2023.
“That political leaders of the Southeast should not, under any circumstances, compromise the determination of the South East to get the Presidency of Nigeria in 2023.
“That the people of the South East shall view with sternness, any South Easterner who works against this resolve.”
They noted that Southeast had supported other zones to produce the president of Nigeria and in fairness other zones should reciprocate by supporting region in 2023 to produce the president.
“We urge Southeasterners in all political parties, especially the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the People Democratic Party (PDP), to stand firm in demanding for equity and fairness. Indeed we do need to hear the South-East demand resonating in all political fora across the country. We believe that we shall get justice in the end”, the resolution read.
The leaders maintained that the demand of the 2023 presidency “is predicated on the fact that the zone has not produced a President of Nigeria, except for only Six months. It has also not produced an elected Prime Minister or President since Nigerian Independence in 1960”.
“The South East has suffered monumental marginalization of the zone since after the civil war. This marginalization has reached new levels in the last seven years. What can Ndi igbo do?
“The Southeast leaders noted that Nigeria has a zoning and rotational culture for the Presidency of Nigeria. This agreement on rotational Presidency was reached at the 1995 Constitutional Conference. That rotation favours Southern Nigeria at the end of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.”
They added, “When that Presidency rotates to southern Nigeria, the zone that most deserves it is the South East, as other zones have occupied the seat before.
“The meeting noted that the Southeast has many persons with the capacity, patriotism and passion to govern Nigeria”
The meeting was attended by: Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, an elder statesman; Igwe Alfred Achebe, the Obi-of-Onitsha; Prof. Anya O. Anya, a renowned educationist and strategist and Dr Okwusilieze Nwodo, former Governor of Enugu State.
Other are: Sen. Ben Obi; Prof. A.B.C. Nwosu, former Minister of Health; Dr Achike Udenwa, former Governor of Imo; Prof. Uche Azikiwe, wife of late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (the Great Zik of Africa) and Igwe Julius Nnaji, Traditional Ruler of Nike Ancient Kingdom.
The rest are; Mrs Beatrice Ekwueme, wife of the late Vice President Alex Ekwueme; Chief Oseloka Obaze, former Secretary to State Government of Anambra and Rev. Fr. Michael Nwankwo representing the Catholic Bishop of Enugu, Most Rev. Callistus Onaga among others.
