A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Chekwas Okorie, has disclosed that neither the APC nor the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will give its presidential slot to the South East in 2023, in spite of agitations for a president of Igbo extraction.
Okorie stated that it would also be difficult for an Igbo to be nominated as presidential running mate in the 2023 general elections and called on Igbo to rally round the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) if the people desired to be relevant in 2023.
Speaking in Enugu on Repositioning Ndi-Igbo For National Relevance at a South East Project Executive chat organised by the Ekene Uzodinma Support Initiative, Okorie insisted that Igbo aspirants eyeing the presidential ticket in the APC and PDP in 2023 would be disappointed.
The former national chairman of the defunct United Progressive Party (UPP), who stated that he joined the APC to help President Muhammadu Buhari conclude his second term in office to make room for an Igbo candidate in 2023, stated that interplay of political forces had shown that the aspiration would be unrealistic.
He stated that only APGA, which he founded but left some years ago, could guarantee a presidential slot for the Igbo in 2023 and make Igbo relevant again in the scheme of things in the country.
Okorie also recalled that only APGA had so far offered its presidential ticket to Ndigbo through the late Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu in 2003 after the one offered the late Nnamdi Azikiwe in the second republic, stating that there was no future for Ndigbo in APC or PDP.
Okorie, who expressed confidence in the capacity of the governor-elect of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Soludo to drive change, stated that he (Soludo) was aware of the challenges of Ndigbo in Nigeria and had proffered solutions to them through his works in Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Also speaking, traditional ruler of Ifite Ogwari, Anambra State, Igwe A. I. Ofuebe, insisted that there was the need for Ndigbo to unite in their quest to end their marginalisation in the country.
He said traditional institutions in Igboland would continue to support genuine aspirations that would make Ndigbo reclaim their role in the scheme of things in Nigeria.
Convener of the event, Ekene Uzodinma, lamented the erosion of values in the South East region, especially the agitation by youths, which he said, was endangering the future of the region.
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