- Warns Leaders Against Sabotage
As the agitation for the emergence of a president of Igbo extraction continues to reverberate across the country, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has warned Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and other political leaders in the South-East against sabotaging the region’s chances of producing Nigeria’s president next year.
The group in a statement by its National Director of Information, Edeson Samuel, on Thursday, condemned the support given to the presidential aspiration of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State by Chief Ikpeazu and other political leaders in the South East.
MASSOB vowed that the Igbo would not forgive any person from the region that frustrated the 2023 presidential bid of the zone.
The leadership of the MASSOB condemned in its entirety, the support given to the presidential aspiration of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State by some Igbo governors.
Edeson said: “Particularly, MASSOB is not happy with the PDP governor of Abia state His Excellency Okezie Ikpeazu.
“It is very disappointing and unpatriotic that some Igbo political leaders whom Ndigbo gave the mandate to represent Igbo interest will work against the Igbo agenda to clinch the president of Nigeria.
“How could some of our political leaders support a man who openly denied his Igboness?
It described Wike as an arrogant man and further warned Igbo leaders to stop their selfish actions which are capable of distorting the overall interest of the Southeast region.
“Governor Nyesom Wike is not interested in aspiring for the presidency. He is an errand boy to his master, Governor Tambuwal of Sokoto State. Our Igbo political leaders should know that Nyesom Wike is deceiving them. 2023 is the turn of South-East to produce the next president of Nigeria.
“These South-East Governors played the same game in 2019 General Election with General Muhammadu Buhari and APC ruling government when they promised Buhari 25% of our votes because of their selfish interest.
“Our intelligence report has revealed that the Governor of Abia state is in agreement with Nyesom Wike because of the crisis of who should control the state structures and the list of the party delegates that will be submitted to the party National Secretariat in Abuja for the upcoming primaries.
“MASSOB is making it clear that any governor or National Assembly member from Igboland found working against any presidential aspirant from Southeast shall be treated as a saboteur and a betrayer of his own brother.
“We can never forgive any Igbo leader that betrays our collective interest in 2023, irrespective of his position, we shall mark them,” he warned.
Recall that four presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the South-east region of Nigeria recently met in Abuja to deepen their resolve to ensure their party zones its presidential ticket to the region.
They include Ex-Anambra governor Peter Obi, ex-Senate President Pius Anyim, Sam Ohuabunwa, and Nwachukwu Anakwenze are among the 14 aspirants who have purchased the forms for the PDP presidential ticket.
The four men at their meeting agreed to “work together to ensure that a South Easterner emerges as PDP flag bearer.”
Details and pictures of the meeting were published on Facebook by Mr. Anyim.
According to Anyim while reading the communique disclosed that;
“Today, Mr. Peter Obi, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze, and I, all of us from the South East, who have declared intention to run for the office of president of Nigeria and have obtained the nomination form of our great party the PDP, met in Abuja. The main purpose of our meeting was for us to resolve to work together to promote understanding, unity, and collaboration among the four of us and any other person from the southeast zone who may later join in the race. We had a very fruitful meeting in an atmosphere of friendliness and respect for one another.
At the end of our meeting, we addressed the media on our resolutions as follows:
1) That we have agreed to work together as a Team.
2) That we will work together to ensure that a South Eastern emerges as the PDP flag bearer;
3) That we intend to consult with other zones on this issue and it is based on fairness and equity;
4) That in doing so it is important to note that we have always supported other zones and we now expect them to reciprocate.
We are committed to working with our party leadership and party members from across the country to ensure that the founding principles and ideals of our great party are upheld to reassure Nigerians that PDP is ready to rebuild and reunite our dear country. We ask Nigerians to give us the chance to fix this country. Together we will get Nigeria to work again” the communique read.
Recall that the PDP has not zoned its presidency to any region despite calls for it to do so. The calls have been very loud from the South-east, a region that has not produced any democratically elected executive president since Nigeria’s independence.
Recently, a group, The Unite Nigeria Group made a passionate plea for Nigeria and indeed Nigerians to support a president from the South-Eastern part of the country in the spirit of balance, equity, fairness, justice and equality in the distribution of political offices.
The group while highlighting the evidential and compelling reasons for a Nigerian president from the southeast zone lamented that since independence Nigeria has been governed by individuals from various sections of Nigerian tribes, whereas the South-east region of the country has only tasted power for a meager 6 months.
The group pointed out that since independence, the Northwest region of the country has been at the helms of affairs in the country for 265 months, North-central 215 months, Southwest 142 months, Northeast 64 months, South-South 60 months, and South-East only 6 months.
“During this period, our political systems have been exposed to various geopolitical imbalances that created some cries from certain quarters of marginalization and discrimination. Many have called for a reflection of balance, equity, fairness, justice, and equality in the distribution of political offices. Just like our constitution allowed for federal character and quota systems, the call for rotational zoning of political offices has become loud and justifiable” the group lamented.
Consequently, the group pleaded that in view of the above record and the incontrovertible evidence of the lopsidedness in the occupation of the highest offices in the land, against the people of the southeast political zone, the country should support the candidacy of persons from the southeast for the Office Of The Presidency Of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria in 2023.
Other pleas made by the group include “the recognition of the historical sacrifices made by indigenes of the southeast in the struggle for our Independence and in national development thereafter”.
The group also pleaded that “zoning will restore national pride and confidence and will entrench peace and harmonious coexistence in the nation by providing all with a sense of belonging and that in the interest of peace, every patriotic Nigerian must embrace the virtue of zoning as a tool for equity, fairness, justice, and tranquility.
The group consequently called on all respectable politicians and responsible Nigerians must recognize and be conscious of the imperatives, the sense in, and the need to rotate and share key political offices among all the diverse peoples of our country and that we should check all our prejudices at the door. reject all political exclusions, preclude all attendant separatist agitations and learn to love one another.
The group, therefore, pledged that the people of the southeast zone will continue to support all efforts aimed to ensure a united and peaceful Nigeria where equity, justice, fairness, nation-building, and national cohesion thrive.
