2023: Ezeife Predicts Disintegration Without S’East President

Former Governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has warned that not allowing an Igbo man to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 means that they(Igbo) have been asked to leave the country.
According to him, not giving the presidency to the South East means denying the people of the region their citizenship of Nigeria and whatever they do in consequence of being excluded is justified.
Recall that Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El Rufai, had last week declared that the presidency should move to the South in 2023.
However, El-Rufai’s opinion has been countered by the Northern Elders Forum and also some youth groups from the region, who are insisting that the zone should retain power after Buhari.
Speaking in an interview with journalists, Ezeife said, “My view is the general view. We are talking of equity, we are talking about fairness, and we are talking of justice; all these considerations require that power should move to the South and within the South, it should go to the Southeast.”
He pointed out that the North has dominated the presidency while the South West and the South-South have had a fair share too.
He maintained that the only group in the South, which has not had any at all, is the South-East, adding that, “Unless some people are not interested in what happens to Nigeria then they can deny the South-East.”
“However, I’m happy with what I’m seeing. On the 9th, there’s a group led by Yoruba that is working on a conference for 2023, and its own decision is for South-East to have it, and Afenifere says it’s South-East,” he added.
“Tanko Yakasai, who was not quite sure before, is now saying it should be South-East. Balarabe Musa says South-East, and about four youth groups in the North are saying it is the South.
“This gives me the feeling that Nigeria may survive if people begin to think in a logically equitable way like that.
“But if some people say they don’t care about Nigeria, let them deny the South-East, and then the South-East people will know that they are no longer Nigerians, as their fellow Nigerians do not see them as part of them.