A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governorship candidate in Imo State, Uche Nwosu, has advised the Igbo to present a generally acceptable candidate if it must win the 2023 Presidential election.
Nwosu, who spoke with select reporters in Abuja, submitted that a candidate that can be accepted and supported by the other zones, will guarantee victory for the Southeast, than the one that will be seen as an Igbo candidate.
He assured that despite squabbles among Southeast politicians, the ambition to produce a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction in 2023 is still on course.
Nwosu maintained that no matter the differences among the Southeast political leaders, they will come together at the right time to pursue and actualise the Igbo agenda. He said political misunderstanding and realignments are not peculiar to Igbo politicians.
He however, cautioned against the practice of “pulling down”, which he termed as the Pull Him Down Syndrome, stressing that the need to work together in collaboration with other zones of the country to produce the next President.
Nwosu disagreed with any plan to have a consensus candidate from the Southeast, saying that such plan will tantamount to muzzling up the people against their wish, while describing it as undemocratic.
He said: “Whatever political quarrels that is among Igbo political leaders now is not capable of truncating the 2023 ambition, at the appropriate time everyone will come together in the interest of the Southeast zone. But, we should ensure that we present a candidate that will be generally acceptable by all the other zones of the country, a true nationalist and detribalised Nigerian and not an ethnic jingoist, that is the only way it can be possible”.
Restating President Muhammadu Buhari’s support for the Igbo project, Nwosu, argued that it is still early for the President to openly state his support for any particular zone, “I know that President Muhammadu Buhari will not disappoint the Igbo, I am sure about this because of what he has done for the Southeast zone so far in terms of infrastructure and the fact that he is also a man that is given to justice, equity and fairness. You don’t expect the President to give his endorsement for any particular zone at this time; it is still early for that”.
On the feud between the Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma and his predecessor and Senator representing Imo West Senatorial zone, Rochas Okorocha, Nwosu, urged the governor to reign in on his close aides, who he blamed for inciting the crisis.
Describing the faceoff between the duo as uncalled for, he called on the APC leadership to.broker peace between the two leaders in the interest of the party.
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