Northern elders have thrown their weight behind Igbo presidency, insisting that Nigeria’s 2023 presidency should rotate to the South-East zone. The northern elders explained that their position was borne out of the need for every part of the country to be fairly and equitably treated in the nation’s political affairs.
The northern elders’ call was an apparent response to the demands of prominent Igbo elders, including former Aviation Minister in the First Republic, Mbazulike Amechi, former National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo and Chief Mike Ahamba, SAN, among others, who sought the assistance of other zones to actualise Igbo presidency in 2023.
The elders, who said the Igbo had been marginalized in the scheme of things in the country, appealed to both the ruling APC and the main opposition PDP, to field candidates of South-East extraction.
On the other hand, the Northern elders appealed to all other zones in the country to back the Igbos in their long quest to produce a president, even as they vowed to canvass their position to all stakeholders in the Nigerian political projects, with a view to achieving Igbo presidency.
The elders, operating under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development, in a statement by their national coordinator, Zana Goni, and National Women Leader, Hajia Mairo Bichi, insisted that the Igbo of South-East should produce next president to maintain the culture of the rotational presidency between the North and South, which they said has “helped to douse political tension in Nigeria.”
“We, therefore, recommend that it be continued for now for the good of the federation,” the statement quoted the northern elders as saying.
The elders said since President Buhari was from the North, the right thing was that “after his eight-year tenure, the next president should come from Southern Nigeria and since South West and South-South have occupied the office in the current dispensation, the South East is next in line in the spirit of the rotation, fairness, equity and justice.
