Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim on Friday made case for the election of an Igbo President come 2023.
Highlighting the core characters of Igbos and why they deserve a chance to rule the country like other tribes, the former Senate President said: “I can describe the Igbos after President Kenedy’s choice description of America as “a country noted for progress and a nation reputed for strength”. The Igbo nation is no doubt a people latently enterprising, naturally brilliant and so fast in learning, noted for egalitarianism and so treasures their independence of mind, of body and of business. They are of great good conscience and so love justice and equity. Survival flows in their blood and so they are ingenious and creative. They make good of every endeavour, be it in politics, business, academics or science. They are naturally good managers of men and resources. They are tenaciously curious, highly mobile and spirited for progress. They make good business leaders and public administrators. In fact, the spirit of the Igbo man is the spirit of enterprise. They are widely travelled and can be found in every corner of the globe. They are friendly and love strangers.”
TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that Anyim disclosed this on Friday as a guest speaker at Sixth World Igbo Summit held at Gregory University, Uturu, Abia State.
Anyim while further championing the emergence of Igbo presidency in 2023 said there is nothing under the Nigerian Constitution that disqualifies a Nigerian of Igbo extraction from seeking the highest office in the land. “Under the Constitution of Nigeria, every adult of 40 years of age is qualified to be elected to the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Accordingly, there is nothing under the law that disqualifies any Igbo man from aspiring to be President; the challenge is capacity to meet the mandatory requirement of the highest number of votes and spread.
The other angle to this perspective is whether zoning the Presidency to the South-East geo-political zone is a right? Legally, the answer is no, but morally there is a merit in such demand. This expectation, canvases that the federal character principle has assumed a legal backing. Just as the rotation of the Presidency is not captured in the constitution neither is the geo-political zoning arrangement. Still, the fact of the reality of the application of the zonal structure in our national equilibrium has assumed universal moral force that can no longer be ignored nor dispensed with. For such critical national office as the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not to be rotated among the zones can only breed discontent and disharmony.
It can further be argued that zoning and rotation has acquired a moral force that its continued absence from our constitution is a major lacunae that must be addressed. Pending the ‘constitutionalisation’ of the above, I urge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make it a prerequisite for political parties to have explicit provisions on rotation of the Presidency in their constitutions before registration. The PDP was halfway to it by agreeing to a North-South rotation instead of a zone-to-zone rotation.”
The versatile ex-lawmaker also charged leaders of the region not to approach the agitation for the Igbo presidency with entitlement mentality while relating with people of leaders of other region. He advised them to be friendly while bargaining for the envious position in a bid to better fix the country.
“I recommend that in our engagement with other zones and peoples, our tone must reflect negotiation, not antagonism. It must be one of friendship and not disdain or disrespect. It must show our willingness to enter into an enduring and lasting relationship for long term interest of all the parties.
I make bold to say that producing a President of Nigeria of South-East extraction demands a lot of work from every segment of the Igbo nation. I therefore use this platform to call on all and sundry to rise to the occasion. The task is achievable if approached collectively and adequately,” he said.