A civil society organization, the Igbo Conscience Group, ICG, Thursday called on people of the South-East region of Nigeria to shun the call by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo for Igbo presidency in 2019.
Mr Onyekachi Ubani, Chairman of the group told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that such call was capable of causing political miscalculation on the part of the region that may lead to misunderstanding with other parts of the country.
Ubani said that unless there is a consensus from the people from the Northern and Western part of the country for Igbo presidency in 2019, then the Igbo’s should wait for 2023 before presenting candidates for the office.
He said the Igbo’s should avoid political miscalculation that happened in the past which brought former President, Goodluck Jonathan to power.
“By now it would have come down to south and a southerner would have taken over and maybe we can maintain some level of fragile peace.
“But we saw what happen for the six years that Jonathan was there. Now that crisis created is what President Muhammadu Buhari is also reaping from the south-south because the south-south people are blowing up the oil pipelines and all that.
“So anyone now encouraging Igbos to begin to fight for the presidency of this country in 2019 is clearly trying to encourage Igbos to enter into unnecessary conflicts and create more crises for the nation.
“Igbos should not in any way take that particular thing he has thrown at us because it may create crisis and create animosity for Igbos and even make Igbos not to have the opportunity of producing the presidency at the right time – in 2023.
Obasanjo while hosting the Christian Association of Nigeria, Ogun Chapter on Tuesday said that the region has yet to produced a democratically elected president of the country.
According to Obasanjo, the problem of marginalisation and justice has been a major source of conflict between ethnic and regional division.
Reactions had trailed Obasanjo’s call for an Igbo presidency in 2019 from different Igbo group commending and rejecting the call.
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