Buhari promises to back an Igbo candidate to become president of Nigeria at the right time

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has sought to dispel rumours that he is anti-Igbo by declaring that he will back an Igbo candidate to become the president of Nigeria at the right time.

Since assuming office in 2015, President Buhari has faced increased calls for the recreation of the defunct Republic of Biafra as many Igbos feel marginalised by his government. Apart from the fact that he has generally overlooked Ndigbo when it comes to appointments, his government has cracked down on Igbo separatist groups while turning a blind eye to Fulani cattle herdsmen who have killed hundreds of innocent people.

With elections due to hold in February, President Buhari is very unpopular across the southeast and in a bit to boost his support there, he held a campaign rally there yesterday. Speaking in Owerri, the Imo State capital, President Buhari solicited the support of Ndigbo for his re-election bid in 2019, saying next year’s polls would determine the future of the country.

Speaking during a mega rally by his party, the All Progressives Congress, President Buhari said that the elections were make or mar for Ndigbo. Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, President Buhari pleaded with Ndigbo to support his re-election ambition in 2019.

President Buhari said: “The 2019 election is not about political parties, it is about the Igbo nation. You need a paradigm shift as it will determine the future of this country."

APC national chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said four years was not enough for President Buhari to deliver on all his campaign promises. Ostensibly referring to former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Comrade Oshiomhole said that for letter writers, the APC is happy that their evil plan of a third term did not work.

Comrade Oshiomole added: “I thank Senator Ken Nnamani who held the Senate and made sure that there is no third tenure. For 16 years, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) destroyed this country.”

According to him, judging by performance, President Buhari deserves a second term in office. Also, at the event, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State assured President Buhari that the southeast geo-political zone would vote massively for him in 2019.

In response, however, the PDP has described APC’s zonal rally as a mockery on President Buhari by the members of his party. National publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said Nigerians had a comic relief as speaker after speaker made a mockery of the president by ascribing non-existent projects as well as those initiated by others, particularly, the PDP, to him in furtherance of APC’s alleged renewed attempt to beguile Nigerians ahead of 2019 general elections.

Mr Ologbondiyan said, “Even the rented crowd showed and expressed a vote of no confidence in the ill-performed president and his party, as they refused to brandish the now famished APC brooms or respond to the party’s slogan. This was a development that signposts the rejection of the APC in the zone and of course, in other parts of our nation.