The Igbo group said this while declaring that it would not kneel for anyone to get the number one position in the country.
People of the South East will not kneel in order to get the number one position in Nigeria, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has declared.
The group was reacting to statement by a former Governor, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife who had said Ndigbo would not mind kneeling for the other regions to get the coveted seat.
However, a coalition of Northern groups said they won’t be moved by such emotional outburst.
Reacting, the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro said allowing an Igbo man to become President in 2023 would heal the political ailments and security maladies in Nigeria.
He said if anything was done to the contrary, “it may spell doom for the country and will fuel chaos and disintegration of the country.”
Isiguzoro stressed that, “Ndigbo will never kneel for anyone to be President in 2023. We will explore all options available before us, as there are ongoing backstage engagements and negotiations with all sections of the country, especially with the real owners of the North”.
He added that, “we are aware of the ugly patterns adopted by ACF and NEF to discredit, undermine and thwart anything that will favor the South-East irrespective of the traditional allies we have in the North.
“Irrespective of the level of development and investment Igbo had brought to the north, we will not kneel before any group, rather it’s the North that should be on their knees begging for an Igbo for President in 2023.
“After all, the North had failed to resuscitate herself to normalcy from the self-inflicted wounds of insecurity which were imported by them for political purposes in 2015. No northern President in 2023 can save the north, rather it’s a deceptive old order of few northern elites to squander Nigeria’s resources to the detriment of Nigerians.
“There’s no other tribe that will rebuild the North except the Igbo, there is no other tribe with a huge population, investments and had contributed in the past for the progress and development of the North except the Igbo.
“With this evidence and facts about Igbo being partners in progress and traditional allies to the North. All the issues of agitation and cries of marginalization will fizzle out once an Igbo man succeeds Buhari.”