The Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON and a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Osita Okechukwu, has called on the apex body in the South-east, Ohaneze Ndigbo to stop agonising ahead of the 2023 election, adding that the zone should rather organise herself now.
Okechukwu, who was reacting on Thursday to a media statement of Ohaneze Ndigbo to the effect that 2023 Igbo presidency quest is a plot to hoodwink Ndigbo, assured that as it stands now “equity, natural justice and good conscience is on our side.
“May I once more appeal to the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo to start organising for Nigeria president of Igbo extraction in 2023, instead of agonising. It is surreal for the truism is that equity, natural justice and good conscience is on our side.”
“All we need do as the needful is for the Ohaneze Ndigbo leadership to think out of the box, reflect deeply, and dust off ancient stereotypes and prejudices by voting for President Muhammadu Buhari. The realpolitik is that voting Buhari will better galvanise and strengthen our alliance with the North, more than voting for His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar. Buhari has a Vote-Bank of 10-12 million voters, mostly his cult followership reflected in his bids in – 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 presidential elections.”
Okechukwu said neither President Muhammadu Buhari nor any Northern political stalwart has made a prouncement on the 2023 presidency, “instead they have allowed some cabinet members of Yorubas extraction, including Osinbajo and Fashola, to dissipate energy to the effect that South West would have presidency in 2023. It is an orchestrated plot to hoodwink the people of the two regions in order to elicit their votes.
“May one remind Ohaneze leadership of the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha’s statement where the SGF said: “This obviously might not be most appropriate time. You remember there was a programme in the south-east where Mr. President asked me to represent him and I flew the kite by telling the south-eastern states that their quickest and easiest means to presidency is to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term. Meaning that they can short circuit the period in terms of only having him there for another four years and whatever they do in 2019 will determine what will happen thereafter because politics is a game of numbers and it is like a cooperative society.”
For Okechukwu, accordingly, “permit me to repeat that South East is the only geopolitical zone in the Southern Belt that has not presided over Nigeria from the Aso Villa, since the rotation of president between Northern and Southern Belts commenced in 1999. 2023 is our turn, unless we wittingly or unwittingly throw it away.
“Hence it is my candid view that with such immeasurable equity, natural justice and good conscience on our side, 2023 president is Ndigbo’s turn; unless Ohaneze continues to angonise instead of organisng. The president rotation convention we mustn’t forget was in the first place, constructed to engender equity, peace and harmony of our dear nation. Lets harvest it.
“One therefore appeals to Ohaneze leadership to place the core Igbo interest above partisanship and demagoguery; for the quickest and surest route to end the vexatious issue of marginalisation and create a sense of belonging is 2023 president of Igbo extraction.”
