Ahead of the 2023 presidential election in the country, plans are being made by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a apex Igbo socio-cultural group, and some leaders church to hold street rallies to campaign for a president of Igbo extraction.
Having fixed December 27 for the street rallies and campaign, they also said they have also concluded arrangements to write President Muhammadu Buhari, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to notify them of the need to zone the 2023 presidency to the region.
According to Sahara Reporters, they said the rallies would be held in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states simultaneously.
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Chairman in the Diaspora, Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze, disclosed this in Awka, the Anambra State capital, Punch reports.
“Those we are considering for the presidential seat from Igbo are present and past governors, senators and House of Representatives members from the zone who are performers,” he said.
“We envision a Nigeria where leadership is based on the ability to work hard, where fairness reigns with a sense of direction and accountability to the various groups and for the common good of the country.
“It’s now the turn of the South-East to provide good leadership for the good of all Nigerians to move Nigeria in a positive direction.”
Anakwenze noted that the Igbo would need the support of other regions to produce the next president.
“We believe in alignment. We cannot get the presidency by ourselves, even if all the Igbo vote. We are already working with people from other zones, and we are in talks with them already,” he said.
In a related manner, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, will lead a delegation of the pro-Biafra group, Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra, and other youth groups to meet with Buhari regarding the Igbo presidency in 2023.
MASSOB leader, Mr Uchenna Madu, disclosed this on Friday at the Government House, Enugu, after a joint meeting with the governors of the region, leaders of thought, ministers and National Assembly members as well as traditional and religious leaders from the region.
Madu, who read a 10-point demand of the Igbo youths, had earlier demanded that the Ndigbo should be allowed to produce a president in 2023.
“We demand that the South-East be allowed to produce the president of Nigeria in 2023,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, says South-East political leaders have resolved to shelve their party differences to work for the interest of the region ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Okorocha, who spoke on the sidelines of the South-East leaders meeting held in Enugu on Thursday night, disclosed that Igbo leaders had also decided to properly mentor and empower the youths in readiness to take over from them.
