Former Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba has asked the trio of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Senator Ibikunle Amosun to withdraw their presidential bids.
Nwajiuba urged the three presidential aspirants under the All Progressives Congress (APC) to jettison their presidential ambition and support the clamour for the Igbo presidency.
In an interview with This Day over the weekend, the minister stated that the South West should not be contesting for the presidency, after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight years in office.
Nwajiuba asserted that if the South West aspirants pull out of the presidential race, aspirants from the north would also rest their ambitions and allow the South-east to produce Buhari’s successor in 2023.
The former minister, however, defended the decision by some northerners to join the 2023 presidential race, adding that they have the right credentials to be Nigeria’s president.
“There are three people from the north, who purchased the APC presidential forms: President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello; and Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Mohammed Badaru. They all have the right credentials to be Nigeria’s president.
“They are men of foresight. They are from the North-east, North-central, and North-west. They are possibly in the contest to make a statement that if we are talking about national justice and fairness, we should only be thinking of the South-east. This is because it is the only zone in the south that has not produced President since 1999.
“However, for them to be seeing about eight people from the South-west suddenly laying claims to the same argument they had against the north makes it look very silly. This is because you cannot be accusing the north of something you are also perpetrating.
“Olusegun Obasanjo had been president for eight years; Osinbajo has been vice president since 2015. Why should the South-west say the north should cede power to the south and that they must be the beneficiary? How does that make any sense of any type?
“Yet they are asking the young patriots in the north to cede power to them. I am sure if the South-west pulls out of the presidential race, aspirants from the north would also rest their ambitions and allow the South-east to produce Buhari’s successor in 2023,” he said.
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