2023: Pa Adebanjo, Okupe reiterate position on Igbo Presidency

The leader of apex pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo and a former assistant to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Doyin Okupe have reiterated their position on Nigeria’s next president coming from the South-East of Nigeria.

Adebanjo, while addressing journalists at a media parlay on Sunday in Lagos, said the only way to avoid impending trouble in the future was for the next president of Nigeria to come from the South-East.

“If you want peace in Nigeria, the South-East should produce the next president of Nigeria. Olusegun Obasanjo had done it for eight years, Yemi Osinbajo would be Vice President for eight years by 2023, Goodluck Jonathan was president for six years, is the South-East not in Nigeria? And then, you want it to go back to the South-West again,” Adebanjo said.

“All those who say the South-East cannot be President, ask them what has the South-East done? Are they not part of Nigeria? Is the South-East not part of Southern Nigeria?

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“Mind you, the moment you avoid principle, equity, honesty and ideology, you can’t get anywhere in this country. If you gang up against a section of the country, how do you want to get peace?

“Should a Northerner win the 2023 elections, it will be goodbye to Nigeria. I have said it and I want them to come and arrest me.”

Also, in an open letter to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday, Okupe said allowing the South-East to produce the next Nigerian president will ensure the unity and stability of the country.

His plea came only days after Peoples Democratic Party presidential aspirants from the South-East urged that the party’s presidential ticket for 2023 be assigned to their region.

Okupe who earlier declared an intention to run for the presidency in 2023 later stepped down his ambition, saying it was done in the interest of equity and fairness.

Some weeks ago, Okupe said the main opposition party in Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is on the path of implosion and self-destruct if it refuses to zone its presidential ticket to the south.

Okupe said the party would cease to exist after 2023 if it refuses to heed to the clamour by many Nigerians to zone its presidential ticket to the South.