Ohanaeze Ndigbo And The Quest For President Of Nigeria Of South-East Extraction—-Over the years, since South-East APC Integrity Group was founded in 2015 and its South-East APC Presidency Project 2023 was launched in January 2020, we have quietly and pleasantly observed the positive disposition of successive Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership to our quest for emergence of Nigeria’s President of South-East extraction.
Since His Excellency, Ambassador Professor George Obiozo became President General of the Igbo sociocultural organisation, he has taken that positive Ohanaeze disposition to a much higher and more determined level, and we must commend his patriotism, determination and focus.
However, Ohanaeze is not a political party and it is in fact not expected to dabble into partisan politics. By all means, let Ohanaeze express their sentiments on the question of where President Buhari’s successor would come from, after all, Ohanaeze leaders and members are equal stakeholders in the Nigerian project. But the issue of who would become President Buhari’s successor will be settled first at political party primaries.
And Ohanaeze, not being a partisan organisation, will not be in a position to dictate to any party the area that it should pick its presidential flag-bearer from.
So, the Ohanaeze advocacy on the subject must be understood to have limited expectations. What we expect Ohanaeze to do is to charge its members and Igbo persons who are members of the various political parties to engage their party structures with a view to persuading them to vote for the best South-Easterner aspiring for Presidency on their party platform.
That is what South-East APC Presidency Project 2023 has been going since January 2023 and will continue to do, that is, engaging APC structures to support the best presidential aspirant of South-East extraction that we will recommend to our party (APC) to become our party’s 2023 presidential candidate.
We expect PDP members and members of other parties who are of South-East or even Igbo extraction to emulate South-East APC Presidency Project 2023.
At the end of the day, following the presidential primaries of the various political parties, the South-Easterner picked by the most serious party will be presented to Ohanaeze, PANDEF, Afenifere, ACF, Middle Belt Forum and other sociocultural organisations for their support of that presidential candidate of South-East extraction.
For now, let PG Obiozo and his fellow Ohanaeze leaders go quiet on 2023 Nigeria’s presidential aspiration, lest their zeal and passion become deliberately misinterpreted by Igbophobes and other enemies of Nigeria’s peace, reconciliation, unity, security and prosperity.
Dr. Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu,
National Coordinator,
South-East APC Presidency Project 2023.
08023163451, 08077010324, 07068400040.
