Nigeria: Igbo presidency only possible after Buhari’s 8 years – APC chieftain

The spokesperson of the South East chapter of the All Progressive Congress, Osita Okechukwu, has said the quest for Igbo presidency would be easily realized after eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari in power.

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The Igbo ethnic group is found in the five South-Eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo.

Speaking at the 100th anniversary celebration of Junior Chamber International in Enugu on Saturday, Mr. Okechukwu pleaded with the Igbo to support the Buhari administration to return Nigeria to the path of progress in the next eight years, especially because the president had demonstrated his desire to do so.

“Once more I appeal we support President Muhammadu Buhari in constructing a progressive and prosperous Nigeria.

“He has created platform for Infrastructure Fund to demonstrate his commitment in fixing federal roads nationwide, fast track the 2nd Niger Bridge and investing heavily in public infrastructure via prudent management, Foreign Direct Investment, recovery of looted funds and cooperation of the private sector.

“Consequently, Buhari’s eight-year term is the fastest route to actualise our dream of president of Igbo extraction, through peaceful means and not through hate propaganda.

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“For the zoning convention is when you consider all factors in our favour, in 2023, as our brothers in the South West and South-South had been president since our return to civil rule in 1999.”

Mr. Okechukwu punctured the claim by some youth in the South East that despondency, despair and gross unemployment are limited to the zone.

He explained that the sordid situation is experienced nationwide and that it is worrisome to the president, governors, legislators and others, stressing, “nobody except sadists are happy that we are hungry.”

He said the country must scrutinize the performance of the councillors, legislators, governors and president in order to make sure that they are not the one worsening the conditions of the people.

According to him, cases are bound of governors who personalized power in the South East, embezzle public funds entrusted in their care.

The APC chief described as “dead wrong” the belief in some quarters that the Ndigbo cannot prosper within the Nigeria political landscape.

He said the Igbo race is one of the most prosperous in Nigeria as “we are widely travelled, settled and accepted, hence our investment in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, etc.”

He expressed optimism that Nigerians would overcome the harsh realities of today, the same way America overcame its problems.

He said all that is required is for Nigerians to love their country, work hard, persevere and be steadfast like the Americans did.

While pleading for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, from detention, Mr. Okechukwu however said his (Kanu) negative propaganda shows that he neither does not care about the strides Ndigbo made nationwide nor the lives of Ndigbo in other parts of the country.

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He said he personally fought in Boys Company in Biafra and knows the danger of Kanu’s negative narrative.

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