The South-East geopolitical zone must avoid associating the desire for the 2023 presidency with their region to avoid putting off other regions that could support them, a minister of Igbo extraction has warned.
Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba stated this in Abuja on Tuesday, urging Ndigbo to exercise “caution” in its quest for Igbo presidency.
According to him, other ethnic groups that had produced Nigeria’s president never associated it with the name of their tribes.
Nwajiuba advised Ndigbo to put forward a presidential candidate with national appeal to stand a realistic chance of producing Nigeria’s president in 2023.
The minister added that in no previous election was the Igbo barred from vying for the nation’s highest post.
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Nwajiuba said, “Anybody talking about Igbo presidency should be careful because there was never a time we heard about Hausa presidency. When the Yoruba were contesting, we did not hear of Yoruba presidency, why is our own different?
“Remember that before Obasanjo won in 1999, he contested for the ticket against Ekwueme. There was never a time we as Igbo did not contest in the primaries, the only thing was that we were not voted.
“There is no time people involved in politics will cede a position to anybody. Up to 2015, the only tribe that did not contest for the APC primaries is the Yoruba, is it not true? The North West ran, North East ran, North Central vied, South East vied.
“If Owelle Rochas Okorocha had defeated Buhari in the 2015 APC primaries, are we going to be talking about Igbo presidency now? But what is important if the Igbo want to become president, it’s not for you to say it’s your turn.
“Anyday you bring out an aspirant that is acceptable to other Nigerians, that is the day you indeed want the position of president in Nigeria. All you need is majority. Buhari won the APC primaries with 3,886 votes.
“That’s what we counted, I was a returning officer in that election. Kwakwanso came second, then Atiku, Rochas , then Nda-Isaiah. I can still recall these things.
“So there was never a time it was ceded to Buhari. The people that voted for Buhari outnumbered others in that primaries. So when we bring out an acceptable aspirant, he will eventually win. That is what you are supposed to start searching for now. Even if the Igbo cry from now till thy kingdom come, if they don’t bring out a person that is acceptable to other Nigerians, nothing happens.”
Nwajiuba noted that in 1998, Dr Aex Ekwueme was on course to win the PDP ticket until Senator Jim Nwobodo came into the picture and shared the South East’s votes.
To avoid a similar situation in 2023, Nwajiuba said, the South-East must go on soul-searching and consultation to produce a candidate that will be acceptable by all and sundry.