There is no doubt that the people of the South-East geo-political zone are already earnestly hoping to produce a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
The seeming massive support being given to the region by political bigwigs from the other parts of the country is enough indication that all things being equal, an Igbo presidency will be a reality at the end of the tenure of the incumbent President Buhari.
Already, the North, the South-West and the South-South have had their turn in occupying the number one political office in the land, leaving only the South-East, which has for long been agitating to be allowed to have its own shot at the nation’s Presidency.
The strident cries by the South-East for the number one political office has now attracted the sympathy of many political heavy weights from the other parts of Nigeria, who appear to have been sold on Igbo presidency come 2023.
But some political pundits are of the opinion that there is more to the Igbo producing Nigeria’s president in 2023 than meets the eye with regard to the impending presidential race, which other regions too are still interested in.
According to them, the current political arrangement may not totally favour the Igbo in producing the next president of the country in 2023.
The reason for their doubt is not far-fetched: during the last presidential election in the country, the South-East did not pretend about its preference for the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party. And this was to the detriment of the ruling party at the federal level, the All Progressives Congress.
A HERCULEAN TASK
This stance of the South-East must have made the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to admit last year that producing the next president from the region in 2023 would be a herculean task.
According to him, “Igbo no longer have a chance at the 2023 presidency. I was the first to promise them the presidency but I don’t know what the situation is now. I don’t know what they will do now for voting against the APC. For refusing to support the APC, they cannot come to the table now to demand the presidential slot.
“For people like us in the APC, if the Igbo had voted Buhari, we would boldly tell Mr President and the National Chairman of the party that the presidency should go the Southeast, since the South-South, South-West and North-West have produced the president. What argument would the South-East come up with now to convince anybody that they deserve the slot for 2023 president?”
Aside from this, most of the region’s political heavyweights appear to be sold out to supporting aspirants from other regions for the presidency ahead of 2023.
This, according to analysts, will deal a deadly blow on the South-East’s ambition of producing the next president of the country.
To checkmate these forces, Igbo leaders in the All Progressives Congress have said that they have come together to launch APC in the five states of the Southeast through Imo State, and that they would reach out to other governors in the region so as to collectively grab their share in the Nigeria project come 2023.
The Igbo APC leaders who were hosted by Governor Hope Uzodinma, took the decision among other issues at the Government House in Owerri recently.
Igbo leaders such as Senator Ken Nnamani (South East Representative of APC, National caretaker Committee), Senator Chris Ngige (Minister for Labour and Productivity), Emeka Nwajiuba (Minister of State, Education), Uche Ogah (Minister of State, Mines and Steel) Geoffrey Onyeama (Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Ogbonnaya Onu (Minister of Science and Technology) and others are core loyalists of the APC who would rarely object to the party’s decision to zone the position to the South East.
OTHER GEO-POLITICAL ZONES’ STANCE
Besides this, it is very clear that other regions too will not easily yield and hand over Nigeria’s presidency in 2023 to the Igbo on a platter of gold.
Voices of dissent from other regions are already getting louder against the hope of the South East producing the successor to Buhari.
Some APC chieftains have begun to kick against the application of the zoning arrangement to the process of producing the nation’s next president by the ruling party.
One of the voices now up against zoning of the 2023 presidency is the former Kano State governor, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau.
Shekarau, who is currently serving as a senator in the National Assembly, recently ruffled feathers, especially in the South-East when he argued that zoning of political offices had been part of the constitution of the ruling APC.
He stated this against the backdrop of claims by some APC chieftains that there is an existing agreement for power shift from the North to South.
Shekarau argued that zoning of the presidential slot is that of the Peoples Democratic Party and not the APC.
“I want to tell you that there is no place in the APC constitution that the issue of zoning is mentioned. I think it is only considered by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” he said.
The former governor, who is currently representing Kano Central in the Senate, said despite the non-existence of a written agreement on zoning, some persons have continued to clamour for it.
He argued that while retaining power in a particular region does not necessarily make the area superior or better off, common sense must prevail regarding the choice of the party’s presidential candidate for 2023.
Although Shekarau did not mention the region that should produce the APC’s presidential candidate in 2023, he said justice and fairness must be adhered to in taking a decision on the matter.
Shekarau had said, “For me, I believe in the principle of balanced equation and common sense. Although there is no place in our party where zoning is allowed; unlike in the PDP where the zoning system is constitutional, ideally common sense should have guided APC in its selection.
“And those who want to kill themselves that one particular region should continue to maintain power should know that that will not make them better than other regions. For instance, in the last eight years the north has been in power, are we better than other parts of the country? The answer is no.”
Although the former Kano governor, in one breath, gave a glimmer of hope to the South-East on its desire to realise Igbo presidency in 2023, political analysts say Shekarau’s stance should not be relied upon by the Igbo as a tacit support for their dream of one of their own occupying Aso Rock after Buhari.
GLIMMER OF HOPE
But despite this and many more factors which can hinder the dream of an Igbo presidency from becoming a reality, other big forces appear to be giving the SouthEast the hope of producing Buhari’s successor.
Among them is the Northern elder statesman, Tanko Yakassai.
According to him, Igbos deserve every right to produce the next president of Nigeria, considering the fact that they are the only region that has yet to produce Nigeria’s president.
Yakasai said, “The Igbo deserve the sympathy of all Nigerians for them to get it in 2023 or later. My opinion is that this is not a matter that one will lie down and think that it will come to him. Effort is needed. How do you go about it? This can only be done by persuasion to convince other Nigerians about the need for an Igbo to emerge the President of Nigeria.
“I for one – I am in support of it. I did it before in the era of NPN (National Party of Nigeria) when we had the arrangement that the next president after late President Shehu Shagari would come from the East. We would have settled this problem long ago if not for the military intervention.
“So, I spoke in support of Igbo presidency. I did not want to fix a date because I am not in position to do that. I said that the Igbo should go out and lobby other Nigerians and try to get their concern and support to produce the president in 2023 and where they are not able to do that in 2023, they will put a trajectory for them to produce the President next time.”
However, some bigwigs from the Southeast region seem prepared to give all it takes to produce the next president from the region in 2023.
A former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, in his contribution, said an Igbo president would unite Nigeria better than other tribes have done in the past, disclosing that work had begun on the region presenting a presidential candidate that would be acceptable to all Nigerians.
He said, “Igbo have good names that will unite the country better than what it is. If you mention some names, they are not Igbo enough and are not acceptable at all to us because we know they will sell out.
“So, we will bring somebody who will show love to all, show love to Hausa, Yoruba and to his Igbo brothers and to all Nigerians. It is too early to name names, but we are already projecting some people.”
On his part, the National Leader of a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Jerry Obasi, boasted that the region enjoyed the massive support of Nigerians to produce the next president in 2023.
Obasi, a former Deputy National Secretary of APGA, pointed out that the Igbo race had suffered series of mistreatment socially, politically and economically, stressing that the politically motivated oppression was compounded by a conspiracy to deny the Igbo the country’s presidency.
He said, “We should continuously take steps towards the realisation of its dream of Igbo presidency, but should also be mindful of our haters who have always deliberately truncated our ambition because they perceive they have an axe to grind with us.
“From 1999 to date, Ndigbo have participated in all the presidential elections, including the 2015 and 2019 polls, which produced President Muhammadu Buhari and candidates like Oby Ezekwesili and Kingsley Moghalu, among others.”
Obasi added that the Buhari administration would have done better if it had Igbo technocrats in its government.
“The best way to pursue the Igbo presidency is to unite as a people, engage other parts of the country with a calculated objective to purge their minds of hate and phobia against Ndigbo, organise colloquiums and enlightenment campaigns in campuses, markets and public places in this important pursuit,” he said.
Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, believes throwing 2023 presidency at the Southeast would be a better way to compensate them for the 1967 civil war.
“The only way to compensate Igbo over what happened during the civil war is to support them for 2023 presidency,” he said.
According to him, the dream is achievable if the bigwigs in the region are united in fighting the cause.
He said, “Igbo man has never led the country and it is a sad thing for some of us that no Igbo man has ever ruled the country. It is one of the things that should be done to ensure stability.
“It is realisable and it is incumbent on the people of the South East to ensure they win the support of people of other regions.
“A lot of work needs to be done. It is due (Igbo Presidency) and will go a long way to stop agitations and make the Igbo feel they are part and parcel of Nigeria.
“We can ameliorate the pains of the past and make up for it. No part of Nigeria has ever lost over three million people in a crisis, so it can serve as compensation.
“If it is going to be achieved, we must ensure we win support in all parts of the country.”