Igbos will leave Nigeria if denied 2023 Presidency - Ezeife

Elder statesman and former governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife has said that no Igbo man will still claim Nigerian citizenship if the South East zone is not supported to produce the nation’s president in 2023.

Speaking in an interview with TheSun, Ezeife, said for equity to reign, Igbos should be supported to produce the next President after Buhari.

He said: “It is easy to pontificate. There will be no Igbo citizenship of Nigeria if in 2023, the South East is not given serious chance to produce the president of this country. After being given a serious chance and we could not make it, that could be understood but if anybody begins to say that there is no chance in 2023, that will be very dangerous.

Speaking on the statements that the Igbo are not playing good politics by always putting their eggs in one basket. Using the last general election as an example, where the south east voted massively for PDP, Ezeife said:

“I do not know how many baskets there are. People who want to follow their minds would always do so. In the 2019 presidential election, the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who everybody knows where he comes from, became an original Igbo man.

“How could anybody have called on the Igbo to divide themselves and vote one part for Atiku and the other for President Buhari. The Igbo did not vote for one party actually.

“They voted for both the PDP and the APC but we followed our minds just like we followed former President Goodluck Jonathan. We cannot begin to pretend not to know where we want to go. What I am saying is that when it is our turn, let them vote for us, that is all.

On the future of Nigeria, the elder statesman said: “For very good reasons, especially being an economist, I believe in one Nigeria. I prefer one Nigeria. Therefore, I believe that instead of having miniature countries called Nigeria, I prefer that Nigeria is a big country where there is peace and where the market is as large as it is and where individuals are at peace with one another.

“This is what I am thinking. In such a situation, nobody loses. The way I am thinking is the same way other Igbo are thinking about it; they crave for a peaceful large area.