It Is A Waste For Igbo To Pick 2019 Presidential Form – Ex-President of Ohaneze

It Is A Waste For Igbo To Pick 2019 Presidential Form – Ex-President of Ohaneze

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr Dozie Ikedife, has called on Igbo politicians planning to contest the presidency in 2019 to abandon the thought.

Ikedife gave his thoughts barely days after the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, said the party was considering the Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, as its presidential standard bearer in the 2019 general elections.

But Ikedife said the odds presently favoured the north, with President Muhammadu Buhari, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and others in running for the top office, Punch writes.

“I won’t advise any Igbo to pick a form for the presidential race. It’s a waste to do so,” he said.

“APGA can go ahead and field any candidate from Igbo to vie for it. It has such an inalienable right to field anybody as its candidate in the election but I don’t know what makes them think that Obiano would win.”

The elder statesman stated that the South-east could start talking of the presidency a second term in office of Buhari.

“The North has produced a president who has just done one term. But it is becoming a convention that any zone that produces a president does two terms.

“I don’t see why the APC should not want to go for two terms. When the North has had two terms following the convention, the presidency should come to the south, and south east, willy-nilly.”

Calling on the Igbo to be patient and “speak with one voice on national issues”, Ikedife said the people should identify and lend their support to any of the presidential candidates from the north who would recognise the economic and infrastructure deficits in the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones.

According to him, such an alliance will go a long way in engendering patriotism and assuaging feelings of marginalisation sweeping through the regions.