2023 ZONING; CONFUSION AS PANPIEC PARTNERS ALH. SHETTIMA YERIMA BUT DISTANCES ITSELF FROM ENDORSEMENT OF SENATOR ORJI UZOR KALU

There is indication that the National President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum ( AYCF) , Alhaji Shettima Yerima may have settled his differences with PANPIEC Chieftain, Prince Erondu Uche and finally yielded to pressure to partner with Pan Nigeria Presidency of Igbo Extraction PANPIEC the umbrella body for all groups championing for Igbo to become President after President Muhammad Buhari in 2023.

Yerima had recently declared his full support for Igbo and Southeast in particular to produce the next Nigeria President in 2023. He also pleaded with all Northern Power brokers to support Igbo for the interest of Justice and peace in Nigeria.

Alhaji Shettima Yerima who acknowledged PANPIEC effort in it's quest to bring unity in Nigeria threw his weight behind the former Governor of Abia state, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu as his Candidate for the number one position. Following Alh. Yerima's support for PANPIEC and subsequent endorsement of Orji Kalu, there is speculation that PANPIEC may have through its new romance with Yerima settled to present the former Abia state Governor as the most qualified candidate.

However in a swift reaction, Prince Erondu Uche debunked an online newspaper's claim that Alhaji Shettima Yerima's reconciliation with him who he had been in loggerhead with over zoning of 2023 Presidency may not be unconnected to Kalu's endorsement. The Spokesman of PANPIEC Prince Uche who appreciated Alh.Yerima's support for PANPIEC and Ndigbo denied joining Shettima Yerima in the endorsement of Orji Uzor Kalu.

Responding to questions via a telephone chat with a Reporter, Prince Erondu Uche said that the group he represents is only interested in Igbo becoming the next President in 2023 with no particular candidate in focus. However that Yerima is free to support any Igbo candidate of his choice. " My clash of opinion with that of Yerima does not necessarily mean we were fighting each other but I am glad that Alh. Shettima Yerima has finally accepted to support what we have been telling him and other notable Nigerians to do. I believe others would also support PANPIEC. We are still negotiating with more people. As of the endorsement of Sen. Kalu, I did not at anytime make such endorsement not because I am against him but because PANPIEC is only interested in Igbo becoming the next president in 2023 with no particular candidate in focus. Nigerians will choose from among several qualified Igbo men and women which Sen. Uzor Kalu is one when the time comes".

Below are the details.

National President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum ( AYCF) ,Alhaji Shettima Yerima, has pleaded with the northern power brokers to consider supporting a candidate of Igbo extraction for the 2023 election for peace and stability sake in the country .

This is even as he declared support for former Governor of Abia state, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu as the North’s most preferred presidential candidate , revealing that International Community and many Consultative forums in the north are also rooting for Kalu .

Shettima Yerima is a member of the coalition that wanted Igbo people sent packing from the North in 2017.
He is also a member of the coalition that established Operation Shege Ka Fasa, the northern version of the regional security outfit that was raised by the South-West, Amotekun

In an exclusive interview he granted the press on Thursday night in Abuja , Yerima also defended the North saying that political pundits and opinion builders are not always right in their description and perception of the North.

According to the Arewa leader , “ those thinking that we don’t like the Igbo and that the North will not support them for 2023 presidency are totally wrong . The whole country cannot function without its part and the South East is part of the whole . I am not fighting Prince Erondu Uche. We had different views before now and I must commend the great work he is doing and join forces to restore peace,unity and justice in our country ".

“Notwithstanding the fact that the North still need another term after President Buhari; the right, honourable and just thing to do is to support South East achieve their presidential goal in 2023. It will help to stabilize the country. The country need healing and greater unity and the best thing to do is to give total support to the people of the South East .

“The South-West has had their complete tenure through President Olusegun Obasanjo, South-South had had a tenure through President Goodluck Jonathan and South-East has not gotten it in the new dispensation.

Speaking further, he noted that “South East being among the three regional power blocks and geopolitical structures to which the British relinquished power at independence in 1960 need a seat at the Centre

“So to have another president in 2023 that is not Igbo would be unjust, inequitable and unfair. With the presidency having by national consensus rotated between the north and the southwest, 2023 should be the turn of the Igbos. There is no just, fair and equitable reason to delay the rotation of the presidency to the southeast by another presidential election in 2023.” He said.

The Arewa Leader said that every Nigerian is entitled to his ambition, adding that doing the right thing is his utmost concern .

” We are talking of doing the right thing here . We shouldn’t just be buried in our ambition, we should also consider posterity, stability and unity of this country . When you talk of ally , you talk about those who have been with us since inception. You talk about those that the North considers as loyal brothers . Don’t think that the North will look the other way when the chips are down . As long as I know, many Consultative forums in the North are rooting for Former Governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu. He is detribalized enough to have the trust of entire Nigerians . He has the wherewithal and capacity to turn the economy of this country around. I can assure you that he is the most preferred candidate of the North from the entire south. Even as a devout Christian, we know how he accommodated muslims in his state when he was governor. We knew how he built several mosques for them . Even the international community are rooting for him, so the North is not the only people in this" .

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Sauce nko

Haaa ok

My friend Yerima Shettima is known to speak from two sides of his mouth.

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