Forum of Northern Elders for Unity backs Governor Ugwuanyi as its Igbo presidential candidate

MEMBERS of the Forum of Northern Elders for Unity (FNEU) have resolved to back Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi  of Enugu State as its 2023 presidential candidate as part of a wider plan to support the position going to the southeast.

Although not constitutional, Nigeria's component parts have a gentleman's agreement that the presidency will rotate between the north and the south of the country. President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure will end in 2023 and being a Fulani northern Muslim, it is expected that the next president will come from southern Nigeria.

Each half of the country is made up of three geo-political zones, which in the south is made up of the southeast, south-south and southwest geo-political zones. However, since the return to democracy in 1999, the southwest has produced President Olusegun Obasanjo. while the south-south has produced President Goodluck Jonathan, so the next president should come from the southeast.

According to the FNEU during its reign of office between 1999 and 2015 the governor's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was able to provide an all-inclusive government for a united Nigeria. It added that as it is now 22 years since Nigeria returned to democracy, it is unfair that the Igbo have not been considered for either position of the president or vice president.

In a communique issued after a meeting held in Kaduna, the forum said the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) has a northerner as president now and it will only be fair and democratic to return power to the south, especially the southeast because Ndigbo have been politically marginalised. This communique jointly signed by the FNEU chairman and secretary Alhaji Baba Mala and Yau Aliyu, urged the main opposition party, the PDP to give its presidential ticket Governor Ugwuanyi.

It read: “We have studied all the governors in the southeast and discovered that Governor Ugwuanyi is a bridge builder and visionary leader that we can trust with power. If PDP wants to win the 2023 presidential election, it should consider giving its ticket to Governor Ugwuanyi and we are prepared to work and ensure that his  victory at the polls is guaranteed.

“Ugwuanyi has a proven track record as one of the governors who has worked passionately to protect the lives and properties of northerners and settlers. He has also created employment for all regardless of tribe and religion since he assumed office, which a feat worthy of note.

“We therefore call on all Igbo and southerners  to join NEFU’s Project Restore Unity of Nigeria Now and beg Nigerians across the geo-political zones  to support our bid for a united Nigeria with the best presidential candidate come 2023. We are from an advantaged region with  numerical voting  strength to decide who becomes Nigeria’s president, thus we will continue  to meet to  work out the  solutions to douse the  tension that arose due to the seeming  power tussle.”