2023: Ohanaeze Sends Important Message To South-West, South-South Over Igbo Presidency

Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Youth Council, has urged people of South-West and South-South to allow a South-east extraction of a Nigerian president in 2023 to reciprocate the latter’s political sacrifices to them, Naija News reports.

The national president of OYC, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, made this known in a press release on Thursday ahead of the Southern Youth Leaders’ Summit coming up in Owerri.

He said, “In every fairness, former Governor Bola Tinubu’s political teams and APC political elite and members from South-West owe Dr Ogbonnaya Onu a political reciprocation. Dr Onu dropped his presidential ambition in 1999 with APP, which made Chief Olu Falae the party’s presidential candidate. Dr Onu deserves a regional honour from Yoruba nation.

“It is obvious that towards the actualization of South-west presidential project in 1999, South-East paid an ultimate price through Dr Alex Ekwueme who played low and accepted internal arrangements for Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to pick the presidential ticket of PDP in 1999.

“It will amount to regional and tribal hatred if any presidential aspirant from South-West decides to challenge South-east presidential aspirants in APC in the forthcoming 2022 primary election. The South-East became political spectators in the 1999 presidential election just to allow South-West to play the presidential political tournament which led to the victory of Chief Obasanjo.”

He also appealed while reminding the South-South people of the gestures displayed by the southeasterners which paved the way for the emergence of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as the vice and later president of Nigeria in the year 2011 and 2015, respectively.

Igboayaka said, “The overwhelming vote of South-East to President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 and 2015 is a description of love and solidarity to our brothers in South-South. It will also amount to regional hatred and political sabotage if any South-South dares a South-east presidential aspirant in PDP primaries.

“Any presidential aspirants from South-South, South-West, North-East, North-Central and North-West are a threat to Nigeria’s unity.”