From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi has described the number of aspirants that have emerged from South South and South West for the presidential election as a betrayal of loyalty of the South East on rotational presidency.
This is even as he has described the presence of former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, in the race for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as another wonder of the world.
Umahi, who met with President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja to present him a “Thank you” letter from South East leaders following his recent two-day working visit to Ebonyi, told State House Correspondents that the south as a whole made a demand that the presidency should rotate between the north and south.
“We were all part of that meeting on the side of the southern governors. But some of us, you know, thought it was a collective request. And it was, you know, a sincere and genuine request and we believe it is.
“But we also thought that they had South East in mind, since South East has supported South West for eight years and supported South South for six years. And this was the thoughts that the South East had in mind…So, I wouldn’t know how anybody else outside South East and may be North East will be talking about equity, fairness and justice, if such a person is also contesting. So that platform could be termed to be, a ploy to deceive or in another language, a blackmail.”
On political solution in the issue of leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu to deescalate tension in the zone, Umahi said Buhari has finished his beat by agreeing to the deal but Ohaneze Ndigbo has been the one foot-dragging and refusing to do the needful.