By Sesugh Solomon
A native association of the Igbo extraction of the North-East in Nigeria, “Izu Umunna Cultural Association” a pan Igbo think tank and an affiliate of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, has urged the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for fairness and justice to zone its presidential slot to the South-East geopolitical zone.
A press statement issued by the group in Jos, Plateau State on Wednesday, 13th April, 2022, jointly signed by its President, Dr Ugo Pat Ihekuna and Dr Elvis Chukwu, Secretary, insisted that an Igbo extraction must be made to contest 2023 presidency on the platform of the PDP.
It stated that “the Igbo have consistently supported the PDP since its inception in 1999 and have paid its prize for its unalloyed support and loyalty.”
It revealed that zoning is constitutional in the PDP and that it should be respected and followed accordingly. “The PDP Constitution recognises zoning as a cardinal feature against discrimination and the party has implemented this policy diligently and strictly over the years.”
It noted that the South-East geopolitical zone in Nigeria has severally been denied the opportunity of ruling Nigeria in presidential capacity.
“By political history, and reality in Nigeria, the South-East is the only region that has never produced an Executive President,” it noted, stressing that “those in doubt of this fact should check the historical chart of the past and present executives who ruled Nigeria.”
It however noted that the late Major General Aguiyi Ironsi was privileged to have ruled Nigeria, but for a brief period of just six months. The group noted that some top Nigerian politicians sabotaged the South-East when an opportunity came for the zone to produce a democratically elected President of Nigeria.
“Even when we had the most eligible Presidential candidate in the person of the late Chief Alex Ekwueme, a founding member of the PDP, his ambition was thwarted by some politicians, who later owned up to this in interview with the media,” the group revealed.
