President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the support he gets from the South East geopolitical zone in the 2019 presidential election will determine the chances of the region in clinching the presidency.
The president made this known Tuesday at a South East mega rally of the All Progressives Congress held in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
Buhari, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, said the Igbo people were entitled to stake a claim to the presidency like every other ethnic group in Nigeria.
He urged Igbo people to bring their astuteness in business and other areas of human endeavour to bear on determining their political fortunes.
The president said, “The people of the south-east have the right to make a claim to the rulership of this country.”
“2019 will make or mar the aspiration of Igbo nation. I am calling on the Igbo to make a paradigm shift and think seriously of their position.
“The presidency of Nigeria is negotiable and can only be done on position of strength and the strength of the Igbo will be determined by 2019 support for Buhari.
“You are important in this nation, you control industries, you control trade and commerce, you control every process of our entrepreneurship. I appeal to you, the skills you’ve used in the past to be prominent in this area, bring it to bear in the political arena so that you can navigate your way to the presidency of this country after the second tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari.”