Igbos United for 2023 Presidential Seat
A faction of apex social, cultural Igbo group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has stated that most South-East presidential aspirants are rounding up plans for the coming general election.
The group was reacting to a comment by a former Works and Housing Minister, Adeseye Ogunlewe, that the region cannot produce a presidential candidate for lack of unity.
Ohanaeze, in a statement by its secretary-general, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, blasted Ogunlewe and described his stand as “fallacies and falsehoods.”
They stressed that if the South-East presidential aspirants are blocked, it may lead to secession and disintegration.
Ohanaeze further debunked Ogunlewe’s claims, saying Igbos is united in its aspiration for the 2023 presidential seat.
The statement read in part, “Ordinarily, we would have ignored the man suffering from mouth diarrhoea, but we call on Nigerians to ignore him, as 2023 is not about South East but the repair of a country sinking deep into the abyss of disintegration and insecurity.
“Ogunlewe is not speaking for “Omo Oduduwa or Yoruba nation” men and women of morality from the South East are supporting and canvassing for the 2023 Igbo Presidency, not the 2023 South East Presidency, the difference between the former and latter is what the likes of Ogunlewe may not comprehend easily.
“The survival of Nigeria beyond 2023 lies in the fact that every section of the country had tasted the Presidency except the Igbo, and attempts by the fifth columnist to coax and intimidate a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction is the quickest route to disintegration and an unending secessionist movement in Nigeria.
“We are clamouring for Igbo presidency, not South-East Presidency, whether an Igbo from Niger Delta or Benue or Kogi or South East emerges in any significant political party, we will identify with him and support him.
“Igbo leadership is at the forefront of this noble project, and Igbo presidential hopefuls are putting finishing touches on 2023 Presidency, surely we hope Ogunlewe will jump the ship immediately Igbo succeed President Muhammadu in 2023.”
