A pressure group, under the auspices of United Igbo Journalists Forum, has stated that the current quest for a president of Nigeria from the Igbo extraction must be restricted to the southeast geopolitical zone.
According to the group, it excludes other Igbo speaking areas in other zones.
The group in a statement after its meeting in Abuja signed by its secretary, Pastor Godwin Mbachu, noted that “it will amount to perpetuation of brazen injustice and continued marginalisation against the Southeast should Ndigbo in other zones usurp the opportunity to produce the president outside the southeast states.
The group stated that it is not however denying the Igbos in Rivers, Edo, Benue, Akwaibom and Kogi states of their Igbonness, adding that they “recognise them as our brothers and sisters but by the virtue of boundary delimitations, they now belong to the other zones.”
The statement further noted , “Moreso, the rotation principle already adopted by some political parties is not on the basis of ethnicity or languages in Nigeria as there are well over 300 of such groups in the country and for the president to rotate among the different ethnic nationalities would engender confusion in the political system.
“Consequently, the proponents of rotation which dated back to the second republic,
in their wisdom recognised the six geopolitical zones for the seat of president.
“We therefore urge the major political parties especially the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the main opposition, People’s Democratic party (PDP) to field candidates from the Southeast geo political zone of the country.
“We further express concern that some igbo politicians from other zones in the guise of being Igbo are already spoiling to thwart the rotation principle and scuttle the chances of the Southeast geopolitical zone to produce the president in 2023.
“These individuals have gone ahead to sponsor some faceless associations to enlist them as those qualified to run for the number one seat in the country. This is unacceptable to the Southeast as it is capable of engendering confusion by returning the Southeast to the table of agitation .”
