The pronouncement of Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, the first elected Governor of Anambra State, on This Morning Show on Arise News Television on Monday that by divine intervention an Igbo man would succeed President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2023 is worthy of being discussed. Especially when about four months ago an Igbo man who is an avid reader of this column, had phoned and told me the same thing and that the person God had chosen is someone in Buhari’s present cabinet and he mentioned the man’s name and portfolio.
I am someone who wants Buhari’s successor to be an Igbo man because members of the ethnic group are born businessmen and women and best endowed with economic and commercial expertise to bring the country on the road to prosperity, meaningful or impactful development and glorious international fame unexperienced in an African administered nation on the continent so far.
I advanced the cause of the Igbo in this column on September 16 and 23 last year in an article with the caption: Why an Igbo should be president in 2023. I also made reference to it four weeks ago, on September 22 when I wrote on the call by the governors of the 17 states in the South that the presidency should be conceded to the region by both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
Anywhere in the world the Good Lord does not normally get involved in the election of political leaders, who wins an election depends on who the voters prefer or in the developing countries the ability of the ruling party to successfully rig the poll. But with electronic voting system promised by the Independent National Electoral Commission in 2023 those to emerge as the winner of any of the elections would be those chosen by the electors.
As I had shown in this column in 2019 or 2020 it is people who misinterpret the Bible who use Romans 13:1 – 3 to make the false claim. This is where it is written “let every soul be subject unto higher powers. For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained by God. Whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation (King James Version).
As can be seen in verse 4 in the passage the authorities are Ministers of God in a church (clerics) not political leaders. It is in the later versions of the Christian Holy Books that give the impression that the authorities are those in political or kingship positions.
Nigeria is the only country in the world that I know of that the Ancient of Days has been involved in who would be its president. And this is because of His plan to make our fatherland great in the comity of nations. I became aware of this in 1993 when the Lord who has been speaking with me one – to – one since Tuesday, February 18, 1969 sent me to late Chief Moshood Abiola, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, as His candidate for the June 12 presidential poll of that year to kick – star the project.
Abiola accepted the message and agreed to carry out the spiritual exercise required for him to win the election. This was for him to use the 41 Muslim clerics the Heavenly Father would raise in Ado – Ekiti to fast and pray for 41 days and reward them adequately after his victory. The efforts of the priests made him win the June 12 poll.
But it was annulled because he sent the paltry sum of fifty thousand naira to the clerics which came down to one thousand, two hundred naira per person and he did so on June 15 instead of the previous day as the Lord ordered him to do.
After Abiola the King of kings had given the opportunity to two other politicians. He sent me to General Ibrahim Babangida in 2001 for the 2003 presidential poll and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in 2017 for the 2019 voting exercise.
Babangida ignored the message and instead of taking part in the 2003 election he came out in 2010 for the 2011 poll. He lost the primaries of the PDP to Atiku Abubakar who in 2017 treated the Lord’s message to him with levity and was defeated by President Buhari in 2019.
I don’t know if the Ancient of Days will send me to any politician for the 2023 poll. If He does and His candidate is an Igbo man then the ethnic group can produce Buhari’s successor. But this is if the person accepts the Lord’s message I will convey to him and does all He would tell him to carry out.
But given the political situation in the country now, I don’t think Igbo presidency can happen in 2023 if the Most High does not choose someone from the South – East as His candidate. First, if the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) zones the presidency to the South, its candidate will come from the South – West and this will likely be either Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu or Vice – President Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo.
This is because the APC was formed in 2014 mainly by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) led by President Buhari and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) with Asiwaju Tinubu as the leader. The All Peoples Party (APP) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) led by Chief Rochas Okorocha, then the Governor of Imo State were the junior partners behind the formation of the party.
The other main group in the country that can produce the president in 2023 is the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). It is true the Igbo of the South – East have been very loyal and committed members of the party since it was formed in 1999. It is also true that in the presidential polls of 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 the Igbo solidly voted for the party. But developments in the last one or two years have shown that the position of the PDP in the South – East has been dwindling that the party may not concede the presidency to the region if the office is zoned to the South for the 2023 election.
From 1999 through 2012 or 13 the PDP produced four of the five governors in the zone. These were Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States, with the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in control of Anambra State, even up till now. But in 2012 or 2013 the PDP lost Imo to APGA when Governor Rochas Okorocha decamped. In 2014 the party joined three others to form the APC which still retains the governorship of Imo State through Chief Hope Uzodinma.
Early this year the Governor of Ebonyi defected from the PDP to the APC. This leaves the PDP with only Abia and Enugu States. As against the situation in the South – East the PDP controls five of the six states in the South – South. These are Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom. It lost the sixth state early this year when Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State moved over to the APC.
With five of the six states in the South – South under its control, if the PDP zones the presidency to the South in 2023, the party is likely to choose its candidate from the zone rather than from the South – East where it has only two state governors.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan who was in office from May 6, 2010 – May 28, 2015 is another reason why northern leaders of the PDP will prefer to choose its candidate from the South – South than the South – East. This is because he will only serve for a term if he wins as permitted by the constitution.
This means that the North will be in a position to present the PDP candidate for the 2027 presidential election. Whereas if the candidate of the party in 2023 is from the South – East and the person wins, he will have the opportunity to seek re – election in 2027. And if he triumphs that means he will be in office until 2031. Surely, the North will prefer a four – year wait than for eight years.