Ahead of the 2023 general elections, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, on Friday, said the All Progressives Congress, APC, is not interested in the Igbo presidency.
Uzodinma spoke while dismissing claims of APC zoning its presidential ticket to the Southeast.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, Uzodinma said APC is looking for a Nigerian president.
“We are not looking for an Igbo President. We are looking for a President of Nigeria,” Mr Uzodinma said. “We as a party APC we believe what we are practising here is partisan democracy and every politician must be loyal to his party. At the end of the day, it is the decision of the party that you belong to that will matter.”
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Mr Uzodinma, who hosted President Muhammadu Buhari on a working visit in Owerri on Thursday, said Mr Buhari’s Thursday visit to Imo State has nothing to do with 2023 politics.
“Our people came out to receive the president who visited Imo State in solidarity to the governor of Imo State. It has nothing to do with the 2023 election or politics. We only received the president who came on a working visit, commissioned projects and had an interaction with us,” Mr Uzodinma said.
But contrary to Mr Uzodinma’s stance, his Ebonyi State counterpart, David Umahi, said he would be pained if the APC fails to zone the presidency to South-East Nigeria.
Mr Umahi defected from the PDP to the APC recently, citing the opposition party’s non-committal to zoning the presidency to his region.
Agitations of marginalisation of Igbos have been rife under the Buhari regime, culminating in secessionist calls by the Indigenous People of Biafra. Observers say zoning the presidency to the South-East may quell such agitations.