AHEAD of the 2019 general elections, President Muhammadu Buhari has assured people of Southeast geopolitical zone of his support for a president of Igbo extraction come 2023, if he gets majority of the votes of zone in next year’s presidential election.
Buhari made the assertion yesterday on the occasion of a mega rally organized for him by the South East zone of the All Progressives Alliance, APC, held in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
The president represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha debunked claims in certain quarters that he is tribal and religious bigot and a pathological hater of the Igbo nation.
He explained that the South East as an indispensable integral part of the federation has the inalienable right to aspire for and produce the president of the country as a matter of constitutional right, not privilege.
His words “In 2015, Igbos played bad Politics like Owelle rightly acknowledged and that Igbo people are not good starters, but when they start, they have the capacity to overtake. I assure you that the Igbo nation is ready to overtake other parts of this country in 2019,
“The election in 2019, for the Igbo nation, is an election that will determine or mar your chances. I want to appeal to you that this is not about party but about the Igbo nation, and I’m calling on the Igbo nation and brothers in the diaspora and in this land to have a paradigm shift and think seriously about their nation and position in this country,
“I have had opportunity to speak to Igbo leaders and I told them this, that the Presidency of Nigeria has always been negotiated and you can only negotiate on the basis of strength. If you’re weak, then you don’t have a chance and your position of strength will be determined by the votes you give to Buhari in 2019.
“You’re important people in this nation. You control industries, you control trade and commence. You control every facet of our entrepreneurship. I appeal to you and I urge you to bring the skills you have built in the past to bear on your political arena so that you can navigate your way to the presidency of this country through your votes for President Muhammadu Buhari,
“The choice is that of the Igbo nation. What happens in 2019 will determine the future of this country. I appeal to you, please stop listening to the stories that are being peddled. Buhari is an honest man, that cuts the entire African continent. Buhari is not a selfish man. He is not a tribalistic man, he is a man that has a vision for a true Nigeria,
“Never in the history of this country do we have the SGF and Head of Service from the same religion. But because of his dire desire to move this country forward he accommodated that. Nigeria is not a Banana republic, Nigeria is a serious country, and President Buhari is the only man that can fix this nation.”
Commenting on his second term bid, President Buhari stated that his aspiration was driven by the realization that Nigeria is “in dire need of an experienced leader to remedy the rots imposed on the masses by the departed PDP administration at the centre.”
APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole assured that President Buhari will not have to change his name to win votes or break grounds at the Niger Bridge to win votes as a man of integrity, he is.
He stated, “Everything they said was impossible, Buhari has demonstrated that they are possible; For the first time we have seen military generals been brought on trial in advancing the anti-corruption crusade of his administration.
“Okorocha is a great asset to APC in the South East. I am a believer that in matters of politics, it is not like matters in the bible where we are told that we may believe without seeing. In politics you rather see before you believe.