2023: Consensus candidate for South East is difficult – Umahi; Says South West, South South must concede presidency or ….Insists: Buhari’s body language favours South
Chairman, South East Governors Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Dave Umahi says it is difficult to have a consensus Presidential Aspirant for the zone for the 2023 Presidential election because of the caliber of persons vying for the exalted position.
He said the best thing that should be done is to allow the people to freely choose the person they want for the position.
He also said that in the interest of equity, justice and fair play, the South West and South South zones must concede the nation’s top position to the South East otherwise the agitation for the presidency to come to the South would not make sense.
Umahi spoke in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital in an interview with the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE).
He noted that what the country needs at the moment is the best hand who can develop infrastructure, somebody who is committed, has transparency in governance and the fear of God, adding that consensus may not produce such a person for the Southeast for the Presidential position.
The Governor opined that he possesses the best quality among the other aspirants and that the state will produce the next President of the country come 2023 if performance, competence and experience will count in the election of the next President.
He said “there is no need for consensus. When they say that Igbo should come together, I continue to say there is nothing like that. The Igbo are not making President for the Igbo alone and many of us are there and we are not the ones to choose who should be the President of Nigeria, it is Nigerians that should choose who should be their President. So, we have quite a good pool of aspirants from the Southeast and they should choose from among these aspirants.
“If they are looking for somebody who can develop infrastructure, somebody who is committed, has the fear of God and has very wonderful ratings in terms of transparency in governance, then they will see somebody from Ebonyi and there are other aspirants that have other qualities including some of my own qualities, Nigerians are there to make the choice. What kind of President do we want at this our challenging moment? That should be the question that should be on the lips of Nigerians.
He, however, lamented that Aspirants from the South South and South West were higher in number than those from the South East which should not be so if the much talked about equity, justice and fairness must be the basis in the election of the next President of the country.
“So, if the mind of the South is that when this thing comes that we should continue to vote for our brothers and no opportunity to be voted for, I said no o. Then, we have blackmailed the North, it means that it was no longer on the platform of equity and justice. So, it’s a blackmail and if that is a blackmail, the Southeast should pull out of the blackmail and then say, look, if you are not basing this thing (presidency) on equity and justice, then everybody can contest. And so, the South will no longer cry marginalization because marginalization cannot just stop between the North and South. When it comes to the South, it has to also trickle down to the three regions with different cultural background, that’s the position and I think this opinion should be enhanced because justice is justice, fairness is fairness, equity is equity and I have seen that the body language of Mr. President is that this thing should come to the South but if it is thrown to the South and justice and fairness and equity is being denied, then, if I am the one giving it, I have to reconsider my position and that is the truth. So, our brothers and sisters in the South South and South West should please think about tomorrow, think about if this thing is denied the South East, will there be any kind of unity again as people with common voice for the so called justice, equity and fairness?”, he asked.
