Segun James

The Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has said that Nigeria will be better if any of the Igbo candidates from the South-east and the South-south succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

In a press statement issued by its Secretary-General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the Igbo group stated that its members were very committed to Igbo aspirations for the presidency, adding that the next leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo would also be coming from Rivers State in 2025.

The statement read, “it became necessary for the Igbo to jettison artificial separation through boundary adjustment by the military and then reunite with our kith and kin in the Niger-Delta region.

“The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Constitution written by our founding fathers, in their wisdom, enshrined that Anioma in Delta and Ikwerre in Rivers State are part of Igbo-speaking states, as we have seen in the late Ambassador Raph Uwechue and late Colonel Joe Achuzia from Anioma in Delta State, who led Ohanaeze Ndigbo as President-General and Secretary-General, respectively, likewise Dim Uche Okwukwu from Ikwerre in Rivers State, who is the immediate past Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo”.

“Governors Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi have not abandoned the quest for the Igbo to succeed President Buhari in 2023 through their perceived support for the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, rather both South-east governors are reading the writing on the wall that the 2023 presidential election might be APC Ikwerre vs PDP Ikwerre (Amaechi vs Wike).

“Moreover, Obio Akpo and Mbiama are part of Ikwerre, Igbo-speaking part of Rivers State, and we are very committed to Igbo aspirations for the presidency. You also know that the next leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo will come from Rivers State in 2025″.

Isiguzoro further stated that the Igbo group was yet to decide on who to support for the 2023 presidency until after the presidential primaries of the All progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said, “Imeobi (the apex Igbo decision-making organ of Ohanaeze Ndigbo) will take a decision on the 2023 election after the presidential primaries in the APC and the PDP.

“But right now, the Ohanaeze leadership congratulates all Igbo presidential hopefuls from the South-east and the South-south. Nigeria will be better if any of these aspirants succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

“We are calling for consensus among the contenders in the APC and the PDP to allow Igbo to be the consensus flag bearers in both leading political parties.”