Abia State Governor Victor Ikpeazu has said the Southeast is the most qualified zone to produce the next President in 2023.
He argued that if the principles of justice and equity were applied by all political parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), the Southeast deserved the presidential slot.
Ikpeazu added that no other tribe in Nigeria has demonstrated practical belief in the Nigerian nation than the Igbo “as can be seen from the fact that our people live and invest heavily in every part of the country.”.
He spoke when former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim visited his country home in Umuobiakwa, Obingwa Local Government Area at the weekend to inform him of his intention to contest the 2023 presidential election.
The governor, who also hosted his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, told Anyim that he was fully in support of a President of Southeast extraction. He stated that all the Igbo were asking was to be given a chance to produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor.
He, therefore, assured Anyim, who is a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation(SGF), of his support, going by his public service credentials and experience.
“In the Southeast and indeed across the country the credentials of Senator Anyim stand very tall,” Ikpeazu said.
The former SGF had called for the support of Ikpeazu and PDP in Abia State, assuring that he would be a candidate and a president that Nigeria would be proud of.
”I decided to make myself available to contest this presidential seat “after a careful analysis of my antecedents, experience, passion, and wide contacts across the country,” he said.
Anyim was accompanied on the visit by a member of the House of Representatives, Livinus Makwe;
former Deputy Governor Eric Acho Nwakanma; Darlington Nwokocha , Chimaobi Ebisike, Solomon Akpulonu, Kennedy Njoku, Thomas Nkoro, Nnamdi Nwachukwu, Uzodike Aaron and Asiforo Okere.
Also on Sunday, Ikpeazu, and Wike restated the need for the PDP to forge a united front to rescue Nigeria.
They argued that a united PDP was critical to the survival of Nigeria.
Ikpeazu described Wike as a courageous and patriotic leader, who is committed to the unity of the nation.
He described the visit by Wike and PDP stakeholders in Rivers State as a fresh start of a relationship between the two states.
The governor hoped that 2022 would bring forth good tidings for the people of the two states and for “our country, Nigeria”
Earlier, Wike had stated that he was on a New Year’s visit to Abia State to show appreciation to Ikpeazu for being a true friend and brother.
The Nation
