Nigerians will back Igbo presidency in 2023, APGA chief declares

NATIONAL Leader of factional All Progressives Grand Alliance ( APGA), Chief Jerry Obasi, yesterday declared that Nigerians will support Igbo quest for the 2023 presidency, noting that the region has the magic wand to salvage the country from economic recession.

Obasi, a former Deputy National Secretary of APGA, pointed out that the Igbo race had suffered series of mistreatment socially, politically and economically, stressing that the politically motivated oppression were compounded by a conspiracy to deny the Igbo the country’s presidency.

Speaking with journalists in Abakaliki, Obasi who was the deputy governorship candidate of APGA in the 2015 general election in Ebonyi State, noted that the victimisation of Igbo politicians by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) under the disguise of fighting corruption, was an attempt to intimidate Ndigbo ahead of the 2023 presidential poll. His words: “We should continuously take steps towards the realisation of its dream of Igbo presidency, but should also be mindful of our haters who have always deliberately truncated our ambition because they perceived they have an axe to grind with us.

“From 1999 to date, Ndigbo have participated in all the presidential elections, including the 2015 and 2019 polls, which produced President Muhammadu Buhari and candidates like Oby Ezekwesili and Kingsley Moghalu, among others.”

He argued that the Buhari administration has been persistently in and out of recession, because of the apparent lack of Igbo technocrats in his government, insisting that without mincing words, Ndigbo have the magic wand to turn the country around.

“The best way to pursue the Igbo presidency is to unite as a people, engage other parts of the country with a calculated objective to purge their minds of hate and phobia against Ndigbo, organise colloquiums and enlightenment campaigns in campuses, markets and public places in this important pursuit,” he said.

Obasi maintained that the 2023 presidential elections would be a veritable date for Nigerians to support a presidential candidate of Igbo extraction to stem political suspicion and strike a balance with Biafran agitators.