An Igbo man will contest 2019 presidency – Chekwas Okorie
- There have been calls for a 2019 Igbo presidency in recent times
- Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was the first to stir up the debate
- National Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie has joined the debate
The national chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie has expressed optimism that an Igbo man will contest the 2019 presidential election.
He said this will be likely be the case despite the belief of some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-east for the zone to wait till 2023.
Okorie made the comment during a recent interview with New Telegraph, adding that his party was at the forefront of the Igbo presidency campaign.
READ ALSO: Obasanjo under attack for drumming support for Igbo presidency
His words: ''It was only the United Progressives Party (UPP) that had as a matter of party policy in the last elections zoned its ticket to the South-East. And because the party will do it again, an Igbo man will run for president in 2019, God willing.''
Reacting to the recent calls by Obasanjo for Igbos to take over power in 2019, Okorie said it is nothing new.
His words: ''Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is not the first high profile Nigerian to express such support.
''If you recall, former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, made a similar call in 2015, when he said that if Ndigbo will present a presidential candidate, he will support them.
''Now, Obasanjo is coming from the moral point of view to say that it is high time we allow Ndigbo to lead Nigeria.
''If you analyse what he said; it means that all the political parties should look in the direction of the South-East for this injustice to be properly addressed.
''But the way Nigeria is structured, it is only Jesus Christ, who will come out as an Igbo man and win a presidential nomination in a major political party, except that party, had as a matter of deliberate policy, zoned its ticket to the South-east.''
READ ALSO: PDP attacks Okorocha over Imo Airline and 2019 election
Meanwhile, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state has said that Igbos should forget about getting the presidency in 2019 but support the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Okorocha further said Igbos whould wait for the year 2023, adding that the Igbo presidency is assured under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Source: Legit.ng
