The National Vice Chairman of Christian Royal Fathers of Nigeria and member, South-east Council of Royal Fathers, Obi Gburugburu Ihim, Eze (Dr.) Oliver Ohanwe, has said that the entire South-east region will withdraw its supports for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid in 2019 if he did not show enough commitment to supporting a president of Igbo extraction in 2023.
Eze Ohanwe said that the people of the zone were worried about the discordant tones coming from notable personalities from other zones, which were at variant with the wishes and aspirations of Igbo people as regards the 2023 presidency.
The traditional ruler, who spoke to our correspondent on Monday in his palace in Ihim, Isiala Mbano local government area of Imo State, expressed sadness at the new development especially as monarchs from the zone were the first to endorse the president for the 2019 election.
Eze Ohanwe particularly picked holes with the statements credited to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying that such statements were capable of jeopardising Buhari’s chances in the 2019 election.
He said: “We, the Igbos, are worried because we feel, and rightly so, that it is our turn to produce the president in 2023 and this is why we have expressed our support for Buhari because of the belief that he is the one that can make that to happen .
“But we are worried when we hear statements coming from notable personalities, especially from the south west that Buhari will hand over to a Yoruba president in 2023. We are beginning to reassess our position and support for the president and unless he makes a firm commitment to Igbo president in 2023, he may lose our support.”
He said that the pains of the civil war are still in the minds of Igbo people and as Buhari has removed a similar burden from the people of the South west by declaring June 12 as a public holiday, the only way to heal the wounds of the civil war is to allow Igbo to produce a president in 2023.
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