Politics
2023 And Ndigbo: Will It Be By Mouth?
So Much Talk But No Aspirant
By Chuks Ekpeneru
The people of the South-East have insisted that it is their turn to produce the President come 2023.
The call was reinforced recently when Mamman Daura, a nephew of President Muhammadu Buhari’s stirred up controversy, saying that zoning of the presidency should be jettisoned for competence in the 2023 elections.
Speaking on BBC Hausa Service, Daura said that zoning formula which had been adopted since 1999 in the election of the country’s leader, has failed.
Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, joined others to condemn the narrative by Daura saying it is the turn of the South, particularly the Southeast, to produce the president in 2023.
The group said President Buhari and current Service Chiefs are not the most competent in the country.
Ohanaeze said: “Talking about competence or most qualified, was President Buhari the most qualified Nigerian when he ascended the presidency? Has he proved to be the most competent? Are the service chiefs the most competent among their colleagues to warrant their being retained beyond their tenure?”
“Now that it is the turn of the South, precisely South East, he is mouthing most qualified and competent. Equity is a constant flagship for peace and good governance. Without it, there will be continued agitation and crisis.
Other Igbo leaders including former old Anambra State governor, Chief Jim Nwobodo say it is the right of the Igbo to produce the president, whether in the All Progressives Congress (APC) or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said: “the country is sitting on a tripod and Igbo are one of the tripods and can’t be relegated to the background.
He is backed by Chukwuemeka Ezeife, a former governor of Anambra state, who added that a president of Igbo origin will fix the economic challenges of the country.
He said a president of Igbo origin would invest in training the youth and put them into economic use.
However, they are some who say the Igbo are not ready for the huge battle for 2023.
Former National Organising Secretary of APC, Emma Ibediro, advised the Igbo to play their politics right if they want to govern Nigeria in the foreseeable future, adding that the presidency is not the right of any ethnic group.
Similarly, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr Junaid Mohammed, has alleged that Igbo are using the agitation for Biafra to blackmail the North into ceding the 2019 presidency to them.
Mohammed insisted that such move will only prevent the South East from producing Nigeria’s president because, “democracy is a game of numbers,” adding that nobody can tell “people to vote for you because you are being irresponsible.”
With the avalanche of Igbo sons and daughters eminently qualified for the topmost job, the loud question is where are the men or women that the Igbo will be presenting f0r 2023?
At the present time, there is no known Igbo politician of repute that is known to be engaged in a serious campaign towards the 2023 contest.
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