Igbo must produce president in 2023 to be relevant, says Nweze

As the agitation for Igbo presidency in 2023 is gathering momentum, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Austine Nweze, yesterday, said South-East should produce the next president in 2023 if they want to be relevant in the politics of the country, adding that if the Igbo fail to produce the next president in 2023, Nigerians will never take them seriously.

Nweze, a former governorship candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) during 2011/2015 governorship election, maintained that South-East should be allowed to rule Nigeria come 2023, noting that he joins the advocacy for Igbo presidency with the belief and conviction that only an Igbo man can develop the country to a better one.

The APC chieftain, who spoke with journalists in Abakaliki over the defection of Governor David Umahi to the ruling party, said that the Igbo should join hands with Umahi and fight for Igbo presidency.

He noted that the South-East had been in the fulcrum of helping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) win the election and they have not considered the region for the presidency.

According to him, the Igbo have been marginalised under PDP for over 16 years without considering giving the ticket to anybody in the zone to run for the presidency despite the sacrifices they have made to reposition the party.

“It is the best decision any politician could make at this point in time. For the sake of our people, I have been advocating for equity, justice and fairness. Nigeria is not a nation yet but a country because of the inequities in the system.

“So, over 16 to 20 years in Nigeria, we have been in the fulcrum of the PDP in winning elections in Nigeria and it is unfortunate that for their own unwritten arrangement and all that, they have not considered the South-East.

“Funny enough, it was a South-East person, the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, that brought the G-34 that later became PDP but they denied him. We saw that the PDP is not even willing to consider the Igbo for the presidency come 2023 and that is why Governor David Umahi decided to take the bull by the horn and we can see the effect.”

“We are fully in support of that decision because no section of the country should be marginalised and we have equal right to contest for the presidency of the country.”

Nweze also frowned at the comment attributed to Shehu Sani who painted a bad picture of Igbo in terms of leadership, saying that the Igbo have all it takes to lead this country more especially in this critical period.