The leaders say there is no going back in their quest for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction after the incumbent Muhammadu Buhari.
Igbo leaders will, on Tuesday, meet in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, to begin moves to occupy Nigeria’s presidency by 2023.
The first state chapter of the ‘South East for Presidency 2023 Movement’ would be inaugurated and to be graced by distinguished religious, traditional, political and social actors.
A former Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo; erstwhile Ambassador to Japan, Dr. Grant Ehiobuche; one-time Aide de Camp (ADC) to the late Biafra warlord Odumegwu Ojukwu, Bishop Obi Onubuogu, and others dignitaries are attending the event.
The National coordinator of the movement, Rev. Okechukwu Christopher Obioha, said there was no going back in the quest for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction after the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
He stated that Ndigbo remained the only zone that was yet to taste power at the centre, insisting that Nigeria had no reason to continue to ignore the clarion call for power shift to the region in 2023.
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His words: “In a bid to salvage this country and unite its people, prominent elements of the south-east have severally put their lives on the line.
“Throughout the years, several south-easterners have cooperated and assisted every head of government in Nigeria to reach their enviable heights. Nnamdi Azikiwe fought for independence.
“In the end, the much his efforts could earn him was a mere ceremonial president.
Late former Vice President Alex Ekwueme co-founded the G34 that transformed into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
After forming the PDP, Ekwueme was denied the presidential ticket of the party he formed. The injustices have not abated.
“The South East zone has been boiling since after the Nigerian civil war because of injustices, marginalisation, suppression and neglect.
“The zone therefore needs to be assuaged. It was done for south-west and south-south and now as the pendulum of power swings back to southern Nigeria in 2023, it should be allowed to rotate to the south-east.” Obioha, who was national chairman of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), stated that the mission of the movement was to persuade leading political parties and the third force to cede their presidential nominees to the area come 2023.
