By Paul Akalonu
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide and other notable Southeast leaders cautioned Nigerians on Sunday, October 2 to disregard the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar’s remark about surrendering the presidency to the geopolitical zone in 2027. They said, nobody from the Southeast or Igbo would take Atiku’s statement seriously.
After eight years with a Northerner in office, Ohanaeze believed it was time for the Southeast to produce the next president.
During the PDP’s Southeast Zonal Stakeholders’ Meeting in Enugu last Tuesday, the former vice president advised Ndigbo to wait till after his presidency to run for president.
He also stated that if he wins the election in 2023, he will work to make an Igbo presidency a reality in 2027,but Ohanaeze Ndigbo dismissed Abubakar’s offer and urged Nigerians to do the same, saying it is the Southeast’s turn to produce the president.
Its Publicity Secretary, Alex Ogbonnia said: “Comments are free, facts are sacred. Atiku has said what he wanted to say, but he would have realised that nobody would take that advice, no person from the Southeast or an Igbo would take that advice seriously.”
A former president of the group in Imo State, Dr. Ezechi Chukwu, cautioned the former Vice President against playing God.
“I think that promise is anchored illogically on a smokescreen because he is not God and nobody knows tomorrow or is sure of tomorrow,” Chukwu said.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mike Ahamba shrugged off Abubakar’s offer, describing it as a political comment not worth bothering oneself about.
Ahamba said: “We have an Igbo presidential candidate. What stops him from going to the Northeast to say ‘if I win, I will make sure somebody from the Northeast wins’?
