Magnus Eze, Enugu
Ahead of the 2023 Presidency, Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu has appealed to the two dominant political parties: All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to adopt the model used in 1999 when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo emerged president by nominating candidates from the South East.
During the period, Obasanjo and his rival, Chief Olu Falae of the then All Peoples Party (APP) both hailed from the South West.
Speaking to newsmen in Enugu, yesterday, Okechukwu assured that if APC and PDP produce Igbo presidential candidates in 2023, it will remedy current prevalent gun-box democracy and return ballot box democracy in Nigeria.
“In a multi-ethnic society like ours, where politics is a do-or-die affair, the only pragmatic answer to the palpable threat facing 2023 presidential election is the Falae/Obasanjo 1999 model. Rotation of president is the ligament holding our fledgling democracy. The Falae/Obasanjo model was founded in 1999 on equity, natural justice and good conscience with the sole objective of a harmonious and peaceful country. We may recall that in 1999 two Yoruba were fielded by national consensus under PDP and AD/APP alliance. That was the genesis of rotation of president between north and south.”