A coalition of Igbo leaders under the auspices of Southeast Enlightenment Group, Igbo Leadership Development Foundation, Concerned Stakeholders of African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Monday appealed to all registered political parties in the country to zone the 2027 presidential tickets to Southeast geo-political zone.
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Addressing a press conference at Universal Hotel, Enugu, Dr. Godwin Udibe National President South East Enlightenment Group, stated that allowing the Southeast to produce the next President would assuage the fraying nerves in the region.
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“Consistent our advocacy over the years for equity and justice and rotation of presidential power in particular, we deem it necessary to once again reiterate our stand for the emergence of a Nigerian President of South extraction.
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“This is against what appears as an odd for a South East son to emerge in the leading political parties. In the APC, the presidential tickets is locked in for the incumbent President; in ADC, the party seems to have thrown the ticket open with leading contenders like Atiku Abubakar and Chibuike Amechi set to contest the primaries. The People’s Democratic Party and the Labour Party are both enmeshed in intractable crises and stalemate, making the platforms undesirable for any serious contender. This reveals a frightening prospect for the South East.
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“The South East appears to be steadily sidelined in the scheme of power play in Nigeria with majority of South Easterners feeling alienated.
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“Under the present 4th Republic, South West have taken the turn of the Southern bloc thrice, South South once, and South East nil. The South East has suffered the highest injustice as far as equity and fairness in rotation of presidential power is concerned.
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“Against the foregoing background, we are here today to declare the common position of the South East with regards to Nigerian presidency. The common goal, therefore, is to galvanise the South East and other partners across the various regions of the country to support the South East to produce the President of Nigeria in 2027.
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“Consequently, we are appealing to all political parties to zone their presidential tickets to the South East in what would be a repeat of the zoning arrangement in 1998 when all the then 3 political parties zoned their presidential ticket to the South West.
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“We are not unmindful of the poaching game by the ruling All Progressives Congress, which as of today has 31 Governors in its fold. We note that the defections do not translate into improved wellbeing of South East citizens; neither can defection guarantee Electoral success for the defectors. These political developments have further strengthened our resolve to push the South East collective interest.
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“We therefore express our desire for the South East to have the exclusivity to produce the President of Nigeria in 2027, and reiterate our request on political parties to zone their presidential ticket to the South East.
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“Furthermore, the South East will identify with political parties that field their presidential candidate from the South East. For the South East Governors working against South East presidency project, we will mobilize the South East to vote them out. For equity sake, we call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to run for second term in office in 2027 but to support a South Easterner to clinch the presidency for a single term to complete 8 years presidency in the South after which the presidency should return to the North.
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