Elder statesmen, Former President Olusegun Olusegun , has joined others to demand that the 2023 presidency be zoned to South-East, nothing that it is the only way to guarantee peace and progress in the country.
Olusegun made the call when members of Political Action Committee, PAC, of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, paid him a courtesy visit in Abeokuta, yesterday, to seek his support for the region in their quest to produce the next president in the 2023 election.
According to him: “It is inconceivable to have peace and progress in a country that is rooted in injustice.”
“Federal character, rotation of power and such other measures are meant to help our nation-building process and more sure-footedly, move Nigeria forward” and warned that “riding over these measures rudely, shoddily and roughly cannot augur well for our nation-building process and progress.”
Members of the team that visited the former president include Ambassador George Obiozor, the President General; Ambassador Okey Emuchay, the Secretary-General; former president generals of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Nnia Nwodo, and Gary Igariwey.
Others are Professor Anya Anya, former Chairman, Police Service Commission, Simon Okeke, and Dr. Chiedozie Ogbonnia, the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Reacting, Obiozor thanked Obasanjo for his support and commitment towards the progress of the nation, maintaining that the former president remains one the few persons who has lend his voice towards the betterment of Nigeria.
Also, an estwhile Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Olu Falae, who is in support of the call noted that nobody from the region has occupied the position in a long time.
Falae, who made the plea in an interactive session maintained that
“I expect that the South East will have a fair chance to ask for the president of Nigeria because in recent times the president has not come from the South-East. I said in recent times.
“For national unity and peace, yes, but the South East is not the only zone that has not produced the president in recent times. There are six zones now and in the recent past, the zones that have produced the president are the North-West, South-West and South-South.
“The North-Central, North-East and South-East have not produced president in the recent times, so there are three that have equal rights to ask for it if we want to be fair
“If we want to use North and South, then it’s two (North and South) I insist it must come from the South because the present president is from the North.
“However, if we are talking of zones within the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, then we cannot limit it. We must look at all the zones that have not produced the president.”
There has been several calls and agitations for the presidency to be zone to South-East to ensure national cohesion which eluded the country since the Biafran war which ended in 1970.
