From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
A northern base political pressure group, Arewa Progressive Front, has pitched its tent with former Imo governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, to actualize the ambition to produce Nigerian President in 2023.
The reason, they said, was that Senator Okorocha is a detribalized Nigerian, and that puts him at advantage over other aspirants, stating that the North will throw it’s weight behind a candidate that puts the unity of the country above ethno-religious sentiments.
Spokesman of the group, Ahmed Bawa, told journalists in Abuja, on Monday, that Senator Okorocha has pursued a united Nigeria far before he joined partisan politics, hence their confidence in his capacity to strengthen the unity of Nigeria and champion the cause of socioeconomic growth and development.
He said: “If Igbo must make any cogent push for Nigerian presidency, then, they must be ready to project their best and most acceptable leaders. We are aware of campaign of calumny against the former governor, especially from his state, Imo state, but we are more comfortable with him than any other Igbo politician.
“No politician of Igbo extraction has assisted the North to solve the major challenge of out-of-school children as much as Okorocha has done through his free education programme. We have the records and the North will not ignore such huge investments. Okorocha is most widely accepted candidate from the pool of Igbo politicians eyeing the Presidential seat.”
Bawa, who is also a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), thus advised key Igbo groups and stakeholders to unite behind Okorocha in order to enhance the chances of an Igbo man becoming Nigerian President by 2023.
“Igbo need to bury their political differences and pursue this project with a common front, else they may as well perish the thought of making an Igbo man President in 2023.
“When you look at the potentials of aspirants for the presidency from the Southeast or the entire Igboland, none of them can boast of the kind of acceptability enjoy by Senator Okorocha. His free education, long standing affinity with the North and his visible human capital investments across the length and breadth of Nigeria cannot be rivaled by any of those aspiring for the presidency from among the Igbo,” he said.
