- People from the southeast have been enjoined to be more like spectators in the 2019 general elections as they have no major stake in it
- Former president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife the ruling APC has failed to deliver on its promises while the opposition PDP has zoned its presidency to the north
- On his part, former governor of Anambra state, Dr. Chukwemeka Ezeife, called on the Igbos to study the situation carefully and tread with caution
The president of Southeast Elders Forum, and former president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, has said the Igbos have no stake in the 2019 general elections.
He urged people from the southeast zone to be more like spectators in the forthcoming elections.
Speaking with The Sun, Ikedife said the All Progressives Congress (APC) came with a lot of promises and Nigerians had lots of expectations from the party.
He, however, said the ruling party has fallen short of those promises and has become almost a disappointment to Nigerians.
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Ikedife said the Peoples Democratic Party on the other hand, has zoned its presidency to the north.
According to him, for the Igbos, the choice between the ruling APC and the opposition PDP is like being torn between the devil and the deep blue sea.
He noted that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is in control of only Anambra state and doesn’t have the national influence.
He was however optimistic that that Imo and Abia states will fall for the APGA in the next governorship elections.
Also speaking on the 2019 elections, the former governor of Anambra state, Dr. Chukwemeka Ezeife, tread carefully and not take any hasty action.
He said: "As it is now, I doubt if APC can win any election, while PDP is wobbling to organise itself. A third force can be organised, which doesn’t have to be Igbo, but something for all Nigerians. This third force must champion proper restructuring.
“Whatever we restructure, there are many issues, which are national. The issue of desertification is national, no matter what structure states of the regions adopt. The same goes for soil erosion.
“We want a new Nigeria. The present Nigeria is dead; it has failed woefully; it has failed man and it has also failed God. We need to remake Nigeria; a new Nigeria is what we have to make.”
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On his part, the First Republic aviation minister, Chief Mbazuluike Amaechi, said President Muhammadu Buhari has the constitutional right to go for a second term.
He stated that the decision to by the PDP to zone the presidency to the north, would prepare the ground for the emergence of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction.
“This is the realistic thing to do. The Igbo should be patient; it may come a time like it happened in 1999, when the Southwest presented presidential candidates of the two political parties, and head or tail, they won,” he said.
In an earlier report by NAIJ.com, the chairman of the Southern Senators Forum in the Senate Hope Uzodinma called on Igbo leaders to examine the current political situation in Nigeria and co-corporate with the southeast for the position of the nation’s presidency in 2023.
Uzodinma, who represents Imo in the Senate, said the advice is necessary because of the current political indicators in the country which is pointed to the possibility of the southeast losing out from the nation’s political equation in 2019, even more than it did in 2015.
Meanwhile, the southeast zonal caucus of the APC has adopted President Muhammadu Buhari for second term.
The adoption was made on Sunday December 31, 2017 at Uburu, Ohaozara local government area of Ebonyi state.
The decision followed the high point of the outcome of the southeast zonal caucus meeting held at the home town of the Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu in Uburu.
Northern elders say Osinbajo cannot be president in 2019, is this right? - on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng