By Ugochukwu Alaribe
ABA—A political pressure group, Igbo Presidency Organisation of Nigeria, IPON, has held a town hall meeting in Aba, Abia State, with an appeal to the North and South-West geo political zones of the country to join hands with the South-East zone to produce a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2019.
This came as a former member of House of Representatives, who represented Owerri federal constituency and a chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Uche Onyeagocha, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint an Igbo man as the next Secretary to the Government of the Federation, to address the marginalisation of the South-East zone.
The group, which said it believes in the indivisibility of Nigeria, lamented that in the 57 years of Nigeria’s independence, the leadership of the country has been lopsided against Ndigbo to the extent that the centre can no longer hold.
Speaking at a town hall meeting tagged, “Towards the Re-awakening of Nigeria: The instrument of Igbo Presidency,” National chairman, IPON, Mr Ikechukwu Mgborogwu, said the group had realised that power is not given but acquired and has decided to adopted a more globally accepted ways of acquiring power to the presidency of Nigeria by Ndigbo, by reaching out to other sections of the country.
According to him, “we believe in the indivisibility of the Federal Republic of Nigeria according to our constitution. We in IPON are calling on our brothers from the North and West to join hands with the South-East geo political zone to produce a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2019.
“We are mobilising in all the South Eastern states and beyond for this task. Currently, we are existing in more than 20 states outside the core Igbo states, including the support we have from our brothers in diaspora. It is unfair that Nigeria, a nation made up of six geo political zones, has maintained its presidency outside Ndigbo.”
Also speaking, Prof. Charles Chinekezi stated that Ndigbo have been unfairly treated in the last 40 years and urged the people of the South-East zone to insist on being treated as full citizens of Nigeria with others.
“The time to think of Igbo presidency is now. The time to dialogue for Igbo presidency is now. We must build bridges of understanding across all sections of Nigeria,” he said.
The group disclosed that it would hold a world Igbo convention in Aba before the end of this year to discuss on how to produce a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction, stressing that it is ready to partner with any political party that would hand over its presidential ticket to an Igbo candidate.
Appoint Igbo man as SGF, Onyeagocha tells Buhari
Former lawmaker, Onyeagocha, who stated this in an interview with newsmen in Aba, lamented that Ndigbo have been left out in critical positions in Nigeria’s political equation, stressing that Buhari needs to give a sense of belonging to the South-East zone.
He said: “President Buhari should appoint an Igbo man as the SFG, reason being that Ndigbo is seriously marginalised by the APC government at the centre.
“I do appreciate that President Buhari is not happy about the poor votes he got from South-East, but you are not going to punish your supporters, your members, the few who have voted for you by refusing them their rights. I am an APC member and I am not happy with the lopsided appointments of President Buhari.
“Now that the position of the SGF is vacant, I’m demanding that as part of the discussion for peace, an Igbo man should be appointed as SGF and that we should also be appointed as part of the security chiefs of the federation.”
On the agitation by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Onyeagocha berated the Federal Government and South-East governors for proscribing the group, insisting that IPOB’s agitation was in line with the laws of the land.
:Vanguard
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