Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

The South East has opened dialogue with the North Central in respect to its agitation to produce the president of Nigeria in 2023.

This was disclosed during a press conference organised by the South East and North Central Forum in Makurdi, Benue State.

Chairman, South East and North Central Forum in Benue State, Afam Ezenwafor said they had come to seek the support of the North Central because the South East had realised it cannot successfully prosecute the 2023 project without the support of other regions.

“We cannot do without the Middle Belt and the North Central is in the Middle Belt. What is holding Nigeria together is the Middle Belt. Our synergy with the North Central will form a formidable force to win the race in 2023. The North Central is the fulcrum of this country,” he said.

Ezenwafor, who is also chairman, Conference of South East APC House of Assembly candidates, assured that Set featured imagethe zone would not bring a bad product in 2023, but would put forward its best.

“Igbo people see Nigeria as their business and they don’t ever want their business to crash; Nigeria will not crash in the hand of the Igbo. We are also aware that there’s need for us to bring a sound candidate and that we can assure you we will do; the destiny of this country lies in our hands. We are here to assure our brothers that we believe in the Nigerian project and to let them know the need for them to support us produce the president of this country come 2023.”

While decrying the incessant herdsmen attacks on farmers of the North Central, Ezenwafor insisted that what the North Central needed most was security and he assured that a South East  president would provide security to all.

“We need strong alliance from the North Central with other regions to help the South East actualise this dream. This alliance will also address the issue of insecurity occasioned by the farmer herdsmen conflict. The new relationship is for unity,” he said.

The convener, George Ugwuja, explained that the forum was put together by the conference of 2019 South East APC House of Assembly Candidates made up of all candidates that ran for 2019 state assembly elections across all the South East states.

He said part of the major agenda in recent times was the demand for a Nigerian president of south eastern extraction, adding that the forum was counting on the support of the North Central by improving on the economic and political collaboration between South East and North Central states to form synergy towards delivering that expectation.