From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s greatest legacy would be his support for the South East to produce the next president in 2023.
Okechukwu, at a press briefing, yesterday, in Abuja, encouraged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to zone its ticket to the zone as it would signal the end of the civil war and put an end to the agitation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The APC chieftain said: “Without being immodest, it is the turn of the South East; our brothers in South West had eight years of president, 1999-2007 and eight years of vice president, 2015-2023, while our South South brothers had 2010-2015. Thus going by equity, natural justice and good conscience, it is the turn of the South East.
“Zoning to South East will be the end of the civil war and end of IPOB. It will give Ndigbo renewed faith in Nigeria, sense of belonging and national loyalty. To a large extent, allowing a person from South East to succeed President Buhari would be APC and Mr. President’s greatest legacy.”
On whether APC would heed his admonition, Okechukwu declared: “Mine is to walk the path of persuasion, I know our great party, APC is not averse to zoning. In fact, zoning was one of the factors that built national resolve and enhanced our victory in 2015.
“I have lived for 33 years in the North, I know Nigeria sufficiently well that every geopolitical zone has eminently qualified persons to preside over the country; therefore, none should be denied the opportunity. I also know, it is not the region, which produced the president that benefits more, so it is a soothing balm in nation building.”
According to him, his position is without prejudice to the demographic considerations by PDP or the prodigious roles people like former Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, played in President Buhari’s election.
“Without self-immolation, Ndigbo are not only foremost patriots that live and invest in all nooks and crannies of this country; but also it borders on misinformation or misrepresentation to underrate Igbo population in Nigeria.
“For instance, taking Lagos as the most populous city and Kano as the most populous state in the country, you will agree with me that Igbo constitute the second dominant inhabitants after the original indigenes in both Lagos metropolis and Kano State,” the VON DG said.
In addition, he encouraged both the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to adopt the zoning convention which mid-wifed the 4th Republic, in order to unite the country.
“The two dominant political parties in our multi-party system, APC and PDP, hold the key to restoration of Nigeria’s unity by observing the zoning convention.
“It was that same zoning convention that mid-wifed our 4th Republic and we are waiting for the two to save our fledgling democracy,” he said.