There had been series of outburst since Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, called on the South-East to take a shot at the presidency come 2019.
Obasanjo, had made this call when he hosted the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Ogun State chapter at his Abeokuta Hilltop residence on Tuesday, January 27.
“Irrespective of the thinking of the people ahead of 2019, I personally think that the South-east should have a go at the presidency too,” Obasanjo had said.
Many believe that his “endorsement” of Igbo presidency by 2019 is more or less writing-off any expectation that he would repeat what he did to Buhari in 2015.
Most importantly, Obasanjo made the declaration at a contentious time when the South-east is politically unsettled, amidst agitations by the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, and the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
Mr. Emmanuel Powerful, the spokesman for IPOB, said they would reject the offer of Ndigbo to produce Nigeria’s next president in 2019, describing the call as a distraction from the real issues.
Emmanuel, said they were not interested in Nigerian affairs any longer, adding that those flying the kite of Igbo presidency in 2019 were just trying to distract them.
He added that what IPOB wants is the release of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, from detention and for Biafran’s to be allowed to go.
Observers believe that if the agitations by the two groups-which include self-determination and sovereignty, are anything to go by, then the contemplation by the agitators or their political leaders to have a shot at the presidency may sound contradictory.
According to them, it is understandably correct for the Igbos with five States including Anambra, Enugu, Abia, Imo and Ebonyi in the political balancing, to ask for fair representation, including producing the president.
But for this to materialize, analysts believe that the zone must trash several issues, including whether they actually want to remain as part of Nigeria or not.
Since Nigeria’s political independence in 1960, apart from the country’s first president, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Igbos are yet to produce a president.
Shortly after Obasanjo’s “clarion call”, expectedly, a new political debate took the centre stage across Nigeria, even though it was more pronounced in the South-east.
The governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, apparently not on the same page with Obasanjo, advised that the South-east should stop talking about an Igbo presidency, until after President Buhari’s second tenure in 2023.
Okorocha, who is the chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, while addressing State House correspondents after a 30-minute closed-door meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, said this was not the time for power shift.
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