Shocked Igbo leaders blast Atiku for being insensitive to the Igbo cause
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Igbo leaders have expressed shock and outrage that Atiku Abubakar could say to their faces the South East should vote him President in 2023 after which he would serve one term and step down for an Igbo to occupy Aso Rock for the first time ever.
They demand an apology from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, describing his arrogant comment as an insult to the collective sensibilities of Ndigbo.
“So, why do you say I will not give Igbos a fair chance to lead the country after my tenure as President?” Atiku said at a PDP South East stakeholders’ meeting in Enugu on 27 October.
“I did that in 2019 when I brought Obi and another Obi in 2011 and for 2023, I chose Ifeanyi Okowa, another Igbo man as my running mate, even when Ohaneze said no Igbo should contest for Presidency under PDP.”
Igbo leaders berated Atiku for being insensitive to the marginalisation of Ndigbo, saying he is at the centre of the problem in the PDP by bulldozing his way to the ticket to succeed Muhammadu Buhari, a fellow Northerner, instead of supporting power rotation to the South East.
Their views are reported below, as collated by Vanguard.
Igboayaka O. Igboayaka (Ohanaeze Youth Council National President)
“We know politicians that can keep to their words and Atiku is not one of them. So what he’s doing is just to manoeuvre to get the opportunity to become the President of this country and continue his private and personal agenda.
“Again, nobody that is reasonable will ask Ndigbo or South East to support them to get power in 2031, no. It’s an insult to Ndigbo and unacceptable.
“I blame some so-called Igbo stakeholders in PDP that stood there and watched him making such a caricature statement against Ndigbo.
“Ndigbo have waited for more than 57 years to have a position of the number one citizen of this country. No person from South East has become the President of this country. So when you ask our people to wait, it is an insult to us.
“The South East is politically marginalised and this is part of the things that are fueling the agitation in the old Eastern Region.
“So it’s morally, socially, and justifiably the time for the South East to produce the next President of this country. It is non-negotiable, we cannot negotiate it for any reason.”
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Ugochimereze Asuzu (Ikoro Ndigbo Assembly Convener)
“While Atiku is at liberty to say whatever he wants to say because there’s freedom of speech, I’ll only advise that he shouldn’t for any reason whatsoever, denigrate the Igbo race further, by such insulting and patronising statement.
“The presidency is not Atiku’s to give to anyone, therefore, giving a promise that obviously is above his actualisation is only being unnecessarily mischievous.
“This same patronising statement we heard before the advent of the present occupier of the office of Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari.
“It was part of their campaign statements during the period of the campaigns, and it’s been observed in the breach already because the APC ticket has been ceded to a South Westerner.
“Therefore, it’s becoming increasingly a pattern of a sort that the sensibilities of the Igbos are continually being insulted by politicians of other ethnicities who believe dangling such carrots at the faces of the Igbos will earn them votes.”
“We say enough of the insults because the Igbos aren’t second-class citizens or is it that we aren’t aborigines of Nigeria that we’re being placated in that manner?
“Will the heavens fall if an Igbo person rules Nigeria, or is there an unwritten or hidden code that forbid the Igbos from becoming president?
“Therefore, all these fire brigade promises to the Igbos during campaigns of supporting them next time to be President should stop, because it’s glaring becoming utterly nonsensical and demeaning.
“We have our people in contention too who are qualified to be President now. So we won’t wait for that beggarly presidency Atiku will give to us, because Nigeria is not his to give to anyone, and he’s not more qualified than our people who already offered themselves for that position.
“If followed logically, morally, ethically and otherwise, it’s the rightful time for a President of Nigeria of Igbo extraction to become a reality, and that is where we stand now.”
Nnia Nwodo (former Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide President General)
“Atiku has been there as Vice President and has contested for the presidency severally and he thinks we should wait after several times the North has occupied that position.
“I don’t support that statement by Atiku. I also pity those of them who had earlier supported the struggle for the Igbo presidency and now saying another thing. I don’t know what will be going through their minds.
“All I feel for those Igbo, including my state Governor and my brother, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, now supporting Atiku to be President after eight years of the presidency of another Fulani man when entire Nigeria is saying that Peter Obi who happens to be Igbo is the best candidate in the race, is a pity. But they are entitled to their opinion.”
Chilos Godsent (Igbo National Council President)
“It is a total insult to the Igbo nation. Atiku should endeavour to study history as that may help guide his utterances in this electioneering period.
“The INC requests Atiku to immediately apologise to the Igbo nation for that reckless and unguided statement or we shall declare a political fatwa on him and the PDP state Governors in the Igbo land.”
Goodluck Ibem (Coalition of South East Youth Leaders Chairman)
“It is very wrong for Atiku to make such a statement in Enugu when the people of the South East are still unhappy with the outcome of the PDP presidential primaries that failed to zone its presidential ticket to South East after many years of unalloyed support for the party.
“Whoever may have advised him to make such a statement in Enugu did not advise him rightly. Enugu remains the capital of Ndigbo and it is not complementary for him to have made such a comment there.”