A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Mr. Osita Okechukwu has advised Igbos to accept the olive branch extended to them by President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the 2019 general elections.
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The President through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha had said in Owerri at an APC rally that Igbos would produce the President of the country in 2023 if they back his presidential bid in 2019 going by the zoning convention in the country.
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“2019 will make or mar the aspiration of Igbo nation. I am calling on the Igbo to make a paradigm shift and think seriously of their position.
“The choice is that of the Igbo nation. What happens in 2019 will determine the future of the region. The presidency of Nigeria is negotiable and can only be done on position of strength and the strength of the Igbo will be determined by 2019 support for Buhari.’’
Speaking in Enugu, he described the statement made by the SGF as a wake-up call and an Olive Branch by President Buhari to Ndigbo.
“In simplicita, it translates to Ndigbo vote for Mr. President in 2019 and the president is for Ndigbo in 2023. Methinks, this is the most pragmatic and fastest route to Nigeria President of Igbo extraction and hence enlistment of Ndigbo into the mainstream of Nigeria’s political landscape.
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“It will automatically end long years’ sulk of marginalisation and fully integrate our dear country,” he said.
On the position of pundits that President Buhari does not like Ndigbo, Okechukwu recalled that “twice Buhari chose Igbo sons as his running mates in 2003 and 2007 – Rt. Hons Chuba Okadigbo and Edwin Umezoke- both of blessed memory. And if Ndigbo had voted for him, with his vote-bank of 12 million, he could have won.”
He maintained that “Igbo vote was the missing link then and even today, so we must make a paradigm shift and think out of the box.”
*Osita Okechukwu*
Asked how to convince Ndigbo who are clamouring for restructuring to vote for Buhari in view of the situation in the country, Okechukwu quipped, “Beware of propaganda and campaign taunts, 95 percent of those clamouring for restructuring are for one Nigeria.