₦airaland Forum

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has offered amnesty to members of the Boko Haram terrorist willing to drop their arms.
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Mr. Buhari stated this on Friday at a meeting with freed schoolgirls who were previously abducted from their school in Dapchi, Yobe State by Boko Haram terrorists.

“Federal Government is ready to rehabilitate Boko Haram militants who are ready to lay down their arms,” he said.

President Buhari said further that the negotiation strategy with the terrorists was effective as it aided release of the abducted schoolgirls unhurt.

In a tweet by his Special Adviser Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, Buhari said the negotiation paid off.

“We entered into negotiations solely to make sure that no single girl was hurt. This strategy paid off as the girls have been released without any incidents,” he said.

He also warned security chiefs over any lapse and directed security beef up in schools that are vulnerable to attacks.

FORMER Senator, Femi Okunrounmi, has said contrary to insinuation by the chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Ibrahim Coomassie that “Nigeria can’t survive without the North,” it is actually the North that depend on South for survival.

Coomassie, a one-time Inspector-General of Police (IGP), told members of the Jam’iyya Matan Arewa (JMA), in Kaduna on Tuesday that “We all know that without the North, Nigeria can never survive. We still stand by it. But now is the time to walk the talk in the interest of our people.”

Members of the JMA, a foremost northern women socio-cultural organisation, were on a visit to ACF’s National Working Committee (NWC) when he made the comment.

His utterance did not go down well with some stakeholders of the Nigerian Project.

Among those who reacted to his comment is Senator Okunrounmi who questioned what the South was benefitting from the North to warrant such remark.

Okunrounmi described Coomassie comment as delusory.

“When you say we cannot survive without them, you begin to imagine what exactly we get from them that we shall miss if we are not together. They are the ones who depend on us and not the other way round.

“All the oil is in the south, they have not got any oil in the north. From all the years and the billions of naira they have spent looking for oil in the Chad Basin, they have not found any trace of oil there.

“There is no indication that there is any oil in the North, all the industries are in the South, the revenue that we share in Abuja, 80 per cent or more comes from the South.

“In fact, the bulk of the revenue comes from Lagos, Ogun states and of course the oil producing states in the Delta areas. So, the North would be left with nothing if they are not with the South.

“That is why we are calling for restructuring and in fact, it will benefit the North more. When we restructure, they will be in a position to explore the mineral resources in their domains which at present, they are not exploring. There are enough mineral resources within the states in the country,” the former Ogun senator was quoted by TheNation to have said.

Also reacting, the National Chairman of United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, described the remarks credited to the ACF’s Chief as unfortunate.

“As a matter of fact the statement is condemnable because many people don’t want Nigeria to continue this way. Many people want to go their separate ways. Why is he talking about Nigeria not surviving without the North? Is it not clear to him that there are many separatist agitations in the country, who feel they are better off without being in Nigeria?

“Instead of joining hand with Nigerian leaders of thought to make the country a better place and to have reason to say they are proud Nigerians, he is putting more fuel in a burning fire,” Okorie said.

But, an Enugu-based lawyer, Chief Enechi Onyia, (SAN), who agreed that Nigeria cannot survive without the North, said “every region needs the other to survive”.

“Yes, it is true; Nigeria cannot survive without the North. If the North pulls out, is it the same Nigeria again? Can Nigeria survive without the Igbo? It would not be the same Nigeria without the Igbo. Can Nigeria survive without the Yoruba? Can the country survive without the Itsekiri? It cannot be the same anymore.

“But when you become selfish and think that survival is individualistic, then that’s a different thing. We have 240 tribes in Nigeria, if we start this tribalistic thing, how do we go? Have you read the constitution of Nigeria? Do you see anywhere labeled North, East or West? Do you see Igbo, Yoruba or any tribe for that matter?

“There are no geo-political zones in the constitution either; it doesn’t exist. It was only introduced by people who cannot survive in Nigeria, because they are ‘bigmen’. So, they decided to organise Southeast, Southwest and what have you, where they would be at the top.

“What it means is that the country cannot be the same again. We need each other, to develop ourselves and sustain the unity of Africa.

“Indeed, all parts of this country can survive as a country. But what kind of survival is that? What it means is that when an Igbo man is going to Port Harcourt, he would require a visa; when he is going to Benin City, he would need a visa. You are going to Otukpo, you will take visa. What kind of survival is that? My point is that we need each other,” Onyia said.

“Now that the federal government has gleefully inundated the public with the imaginary assets of the deputy senate president, can it now also publish the full assets of the President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo, cabinet ministers and APC governors, who have all failed to make public their assets as promised during the 2015 election”, it said.

THE opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dared the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) to publish assets declarations of its political office holders the same way it published that of Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

The party stated this while reacting to a motion filed by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property seeking the forfeiture of assets allegedly not declared by Mr. Ekweremadu.

Among those whose assets declaration the PDP is demanding for its publication are; President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Cabinet members, APC Governors among others.

The PDP accused the ruling party of not being ready to fight corruption, adding that the APC-led administration’s obsession with Mr. Ekweremadu was an indication that the party (APC) is out to ”scandalise, persecute, and bring down its perceived opponents”.

The party stated this in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, on Thursday.

The federal government, Wednesday, asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze all hidden assets that were traced to Mr. Ekweremadu.

This demand was made via an ex-parte motion filed by legal practitioner, Festus Keyamo, on behalf of the presidential panel.

However, reacting the PDP recalled how the government rushed to arraign Mr. Ekweremadu and the senate president, Bukola Saraki, in 2016 on trumped up charges of forgery of Senate Standing Rules, even when there was not even a mention of their names in the contentious police report or proof of evidence. The government eventually withdrew the charges for lack of merit.

It also recalled how the police raided and ransacked Mr. Ekweremadu’s official guest house in Abuja in May 2017 and blamed it on false whistleblowers, whom they charged to court, stressing that nothing has been heard about the trial of the alleged false whistleblowers again.

“In the current matter, apart from relying on an obsolete law to dabble into the roles of the Code of Conduct Bureau, we are not surprised that the panel could not carry out a thorough and independent investigation on the purported property of the senator, but relied on a petition by the former Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice Innocent Umezulike, who is standing corruption trial in several courts, after his removal from office by the National Judicial Council (NJC) in 2017.

“We recall that the senator accused Umezulike and some politicians of stealing and doctoring his will, inserting non-existent properties or properties that had nothing to do with him. It is also instructive that this calculated smear campaign is in the guise of forfeiture of phantom assets came on the heels of Senator Ekweremadu’s alarm and scathing criticism of the APC-led administration over the nation’s deteriorating democracy and in the midst of the ongoing executive-legislature faceoff, in which a ranking senator of the APC extraction identified Ekweremadu as a pillar of support to the Senate President”, the statement read.

The PDP said contrary to the federal government’s claims, Mr. Ekweremadu had assured it that he declared his assets.

It wondered why the federal government, by its own admission, rushed to court without completion of investigation, but had ”turned deaf ears to the outcry by Nigerians for the prosecution of the administration’s functionaries and friends indicted of corruption”.

“This government and party have a wet appetite for prosecution and media trial of the opposition while investigation is on, but refuses to prosecute its members and friends indicted by even its own presidential or ministerial panels.

“While members of the opposition are taken to court on stretchers, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr. Babachir Lawal, indicted by both the Senate and a presidential panel only got a pat on the back.

“The APC Federal Government has failed to prosecute those involved in the Ikoyigate scandal, and the recall of fugitive Abdulrasheed Maina, among others. Ekweremadu is a major symbol of the opposition. We believe that this is part of the grand plan to strangulate the PDP ahead of the 2019 elections and we will resist,” it added.

The PDP further alleged that Mr Ekweremadu’s travail was part of the grand plan to strangulate the opposition ahead of 2019 election and challenged the federal government to publish the assets of APC political office holders.

“Now that the federal government has gleefully inundated the public with the imaginary assets of the deputy senate president, can it now also publish the full assets of the President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo, cabinet ministers and APC governors, who have all failed to make public their assets as promised during the 2015 election”, it said.

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THE Federal Government has confirmed that Boko Haram terrorists did not released the whole 110 schoolgirls it abducted on February 19.

The government said it has so far confirmed that 76 has been released while 34 are still held hostage.

This was made known by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed.

Mohammed in a statement said President Muhammadu Buhari directives to all security agencies to do everything possible to secure the release of the girls had “yielded fruits”.

He also noted that the release of the remaining abducted students was “ongoing”.

He said the girls were released around 3 a.m. through “back-channel efforts” and with the help of some friends of the country, and that it was unconditional.

”For the release to work, the government had a clear understanding that violence and confrontation would not be the way out as it could endanger the lives of the girls, hence a non-violent approach was the preferred option.

”Within the period when the girls were being brought back, operational pause was observed in certain areas to ensure free passage and also that lives were not lost,” Mr. Mohammed said.

He said the number of the freed girls would be updated after the remaining ones have been documented, “especially because the girls were not handed over to anyone but dropped off in Dapchi.”

AMNESTY International (AI) Human Rights Group, has stated why Boko Haram terrorists abducted Dapchi School Girls.

This is as the group blamed the Nigerian Army for failing to prevent the abduction of the schoolgirls numbering about 110.

The abduction by the terror group was launched on February 19, in Yobe state.

AI said Insufficient troops and an absence of patrols led to the abduction.

“Evidence available to Amnesty International suggests that there are insufficient troops deployed in the area and that an absence of patrols and the failure to respond to warnings and engage with Boko Haram contributed to this tragedy,” a statement from Amnesty International’s Nigeria Director, Ossai Ojigho, said.

Giving further details, Amnesty claims that testimonies from several credible sources show that security forces received at least five warning calls up to four hours before the Dapchi raid.

It adds that during the attack, army officials, both in Geidam and Damaturu, were again alerted. The military only arrived in Dapchi shortly after Boko Haram left.

Comparing the Dapchi raid to the Chibok episode, Amnesty International says, “Regrettably, no lessons appear to have been learned from the terrible events at Chibok four years ago.

“What happened in Dapchi is almost a carbon copy of what happened in Chibok, with the security forces failing to respond to warnings – and the same result for another hundred girls and their families”.

It therefore, asked the Federal Government to investigate what it describes as inexcusable security lapses that allowed the abduction to take place without any effort to prevent it.

THE Nigeria Police has described the alleged summoning of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris by President Muhammadu Buhari, as false.

Mr. Idris was ordered by Mr. Buhari to relocate to Benue State with a view to check the reported cases of attacks on innocent citizens in the state.

However the president during his visit to Benue, in an on-the-spot assessment of violence-hit areas discovered that his directive was disregarded.

He said it was just made known to him during his visit to the state that the IGP did not spend up to a day there against his order of the police boss remaining in the state until the killings were stopped.

“Pres @MBuhari today summoned the Inspector-General of Police to explain his flouting of the presidential order to remain in Benue State. The President has also asked for a comprehensive report on Police Operations in the affected States,after which further decisions will be made,” a presidency handle @NGRPresident noted.

However, in an audacious move, the Nigeria Police has denied that the IGP was queried for his alleged disobedience to the presidential directive.

Police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, rebutted the claim, according to a report on Thisday Newspaper.

“The IGP was not queried.

“Anybody that said the IGP was queried by the president should bring the copy of the query, let us display it,” Moshood reportedly said.

He argued that those speculating that the IGP had been queried by the president were angling to cause disharmony and disaffection, with the intension to distort facts.

THE Presidency has stated the reason behind the scheduled visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Rivers State.

Rivers and Benue had on new year day witnessed violence that led to the lost of lives in the two States.

Mr. Buhari had included the state in his list of violence hit areas since the year began.

The president was billed to visit the State on Thursday, He is yet to do so as HEADLINE could not ascertain why he failed to do so.

But the State Governor, Nyesom Wike, said he has not been informed of Mr. Buhari’s planned visit to his state.

He also told anyone who cared to listen that the All Progressive Congress in the state is dead.

However, the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, at the weekend said his principal’s visit to the state is to condole with the families of those affected by various killings in the state.

He stated this in an interview with Tribune Newspaper.

“If he (Wike) doesn’t understand, the rest of the country understands. We understand other Nigerians understand. Even people in Rivers state understand because, on New Year/New Year Day, a minimum of 24 people was killed in Omoku.

“So, is that no crisis? And can you count the number of people that have been beheaded in Rivers state in recent times?

“People will be killed and heads will be cut off and the assailants will go away with the heads. So, can anybody say that there is no security issue in that kind of place?

“It’s left to the governor. He’s the chief security officer. If he says there’s no security crisis in his state, good luck to him,” Adesina said.

On what will become of the trip if the governor does not welcome it, the presidential aide stated: “I’m sure he will be formally informed of the date. So, if he now says he doesn’t want the visit, it’s left to him and the federal government to decide the next step.

“But the president is visiting so that he can condole with people who lost their loved ones, 24 people minimum, were killed in Omoku.

“So, those people are the reason. Those people and the many beheaded; relations of those beheaded and their heads taken away, are the reason why the president is visiting the state.”

THE Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission (KOSIEC) has stated why underage registration and voting may continue across the country unabated.

KOSIEC noted that until enough securities are provided for the commission’s registration officers across the country, nothing could be done to arrest the situation as it is an endemic case that would be difficult to overcome.

Andrew Owonipa, KOSIEC chairman stated this on Wednesday (28/02/2018), when he played host to the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) who paid him courtesy visit in Lokoja.

Bishop John Ibenu, the CAN chairman, had called for the sanctity of the electoral process.He said the issue of under aged voting during election would not speak well of the Nigerian democracy.

“In the last two weeks, we have been watching a video of under aged registration and voting. We want you to check mate these things so that they don’t happen again,” the bishop said.

He also raised concern over the non-collection of about 8million Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) in the state.

Responding, Owonipa explained that under aged registration is a very serious challenge, because of the crowd that gather during registration, with very limited security for the protection of the registration officers.

“There is nothing much that a registration officer could do at that point, because he is not having enough protection. Somebody would tell you that this is my son and I know his age. You can’t argue with such person because you do not know the child’s age.”

He said at times, it is not the size of the person that determines the age, as a 19-year person could look like a 10-year old child placing the registration officer in a dilemma, contrary to what people expect of him.

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced dates for future general elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mamood Yakubu, announcing the dates at a consultative meeting with leaders of political parties in Abuja on Wednesday (28/02/2018), noted that the aim was to engender certainty in the election calendar and allow for long-term planning by the commission and all stakeholders.

The dates as released by Yakubu includes:

2019 - has Feb. 16 and March 2.
2023 - has Feb. 18 and March 4.
2027 - has Feb. 20 and March 6.
2031 - has Feb.15 and March 1.
2035 - has Feb. 17 and March 3.
2039 - has Feb.19 and March 5.
2043 - has Feb. 21 and March 7.
2047 - has Feb.15 and March 2.
2051 - has Feb.18 and March 1.
2055 - has Feb. 20 and March 6.

Yakubu noted that in other democracies of the world periods of elections were generally known and were not topics for speculation.

THE names and other details of the 110 girls who are yet to be accounted for, following the attack on the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19 has been released by the Federal Government.

The government also set up a 12-member committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the girls.

The committee, convened by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), will be chaired by a military officer of the rank of major general.

These were made known by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday (27/02/2018).

Mohammed had twice led a Federal Government delegation to Yobe since the tragic incident occurred.

According to him, out of the 110 missing girls, 8 are said to be in JSS1, 17 in JSS2, 12 in JSS3, 40 in SS1, 19 in SS2 and 14 in SS3 with their age ranging from 11 to 19 years.

The list was verified by a 26-member screening committee that included the Executive Secretary, State Teaching Service Board, Musa Abdulsalam; Director, Schools’ Management, Ministry of Education, Shuaibu Bulama; Principal of GGSTC, Adama Abdulkarim; the two Vice Principals, Ali Musa Mabu and Abdullahi Sule Lampo; Admission Officer, Bashir Ali Yerima, and the Form Masters for all the classes.

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The committee will comprise one senior provost each from the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force; representatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA); Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA); Nigeria Police Force (NPF); Department of State Service (DSS); Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); two representatives of the Yobe State government and a representative of the Office of the National Security Adviser.

The terms of reference of the committee include ascertaining the circumstances surrounding the abduction, confirming the presence, composition, scale and disposition of security emplaced in Dapchi and at GGSTC before the incident, and suggesting measures that could lead to the location and rescue of the girls.

The committee, expected to submit its report by March 15, 2018, will also recommend measures to prevent future occurrence, and will be inaugurated on Thursday (1/03/2018).

THE Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) has described a report quoting security sources as saying it leader, Nnamdi Kanu and his wife, Uchechi Kanu, were sighted in Ghana as fake news.

An online publication quoting security sources on Tuesday (27/02/2018), reported that the IPOB leader and his wife were seen in the republic of Ghana.

Kanu who is on trial for treasonable felony was last seen in September 2017 when the army reportedly raided his house in Abia State, after he boasted that if arrested again, his arrest will lead to the balkanization of the country. This was after he flouted several bail terms granted to him.

However, Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of the state, said Kanu was in London, he made the claim without evidence to back up his attest.

Tuesday’s report said Kanu was ferried to the Niger Delta creeks by militants at the height of Python Dance II, from where he found his way to Ghana by sea.

“He is regularly seen at Kenzo Bar and IBG saloon in Accra, disguised in face cap and usually in company with his wife, Uchechi.

“Kanu is said to live at an area called Cantonment, also in Accra, at an estate called “Arabella”.

Reacting, the separatist group alleged that the report was fabricated by the Nigerian Army in a calculated attempt to absolve the federal government of direct involvement in the abduction of it leader.

“We are waiting for the next installment of these comical sightings or where they will say our leader is. Hopefully this time around one of the Nigerian security agencies will have guts and decency to come forward to say they have him in their custody.

“The sooner the Nigerian Army and government speaks the truth about the whereabouts of our leader, the better it will be for Nigeria. Understandably and rightfully so, a lot of people are angry about what has befallen our leader and they are beginning to manifest their irritation whenever the name Nigeria is mentioned in a public gathering in Biafraland”

“How long the high command of IPOB can keep this anger under control is unknown to us but what we do know is that those holding our leader or his body should not let this anger become uncontrollable.

“Yesterday it was a fake non-existent DSS computer generated ‘IPOB leader’ they christened Okwudili Ezenachukwu who nobody has ever seen or heard from, today we are being entertained with yet another tale by the moonlight that our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his beautiful devoted wife were spotted in Accra Ghana. The originators of this fake news and their merchants went as far as publishing old pictures of the couple to lend credence to what is in essence a calculated attempt to absolve the federal government of direct involvement in the abduction of our leader…

“No amount of fabrication and idle unsubstantiable speculation will deflect or weaken our resolve in pursuit of freedom for our leader and Biafra. This is not the first, second or third time such frivolous speculation has been placed in the public domain. It started with our leader being spotted around Cameroonian border disguised as a Yoruba woman.

“When that failed to be substantiated with pictorial proof or evidence they moved to situating him at a militant camp in the Niger Delta under the protection of our brothers, the Niger Delta Avengers.

“After a few months went by without any shred of proof they alleged that our leader was ferried by boat through the Atlantic Ocean to Ivory Coast. When again that failed to gain traction, they came up with these miraculous sightings in Ghana. These sightings are begining to assume the same dimension as those of Elvis Presley reportedly seen severally over the years around his home in Graceland Memphis USA,” a statement signed by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said.

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim that it squandered over $500bn oil proceeds within 16 years as baseless, unfounded, and unsubstantiated.

This is just as the opposition party told the President that gone are the days Nigerians were swayed by propaganda and false claims with which it said the APC hoodwinked the nation with in 2015 insisting that they now know the truth.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Tuesday (27/02/2018), the PDP urged the President not to allow his aides railroad him into peddling such groundless allegations and bandying of unverified figures, as doing that could detract from his personality.

“The figures alluded to by the President does not even tally or reflect the actual oil related profile of the nation during the said period and urged the President not to allow his handlers set him up for public ridicule.

“The entire country is aware that the Presidency is on a feverish mode over their bound-to-fail 2019 re-election bid for which they have resorted to making spurious claims against the PDP even when it is clear to Nigerians that the PDP has since rebranded while preponderance of those who mismanaged the nation’s resources have now found a safe haven in the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The party however challenged President Buhari to name one corrupt person in the repositioned and rebranded PDP and it will hand him a list of an army of corrupt persons who are hiding in his APC including those who funded his 2015 presidential campaigns with stolen money in addition to his many cronies who are now frittering away billion of naira under his watch.

“We know that President Buhari did not source his figures, otherwise we would have directly taken him to task on the veracity of his claims and detestable image of his party.

“We however ask; is the President and his handlers not aware of the humongous corruption going on under the Buhari Presidency? What have they to say to the recent Transparency International (TI) report which shows that corruption has worsened under the Buhari administration? What have they to say about the official memo detailing shady oil deals to the tune of N9 trillion ($25 billion) at the NNPC which is directly under the purview of the President as minister of Petroleum resources?

“The Presidency is yet to address its complicity in the heavy sleazes in the National Health Insurance Scheme where billions of naira have allegedly been siphoned by their agents, in spite of the Treasury Single Account (TSA); the alleged diversion of N1.1 trillion worth of crude oil and the frittering of billions of naira meant for rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons in the northeast, all to service APC interests?

“Nigerians are alarmed by the President’s claim that his administration inherited a collapsing economy when it is common knowledge that he was actually handed a thriving economy, ranked the third largest in Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world.

“Has Mr President forgotten that when he assumed office in 2015, the value of our naira was N185 to 1USD? Nigerians are aware that the naira went as low as N510 to 1USD and in case Mr President is not aware, Nigerians are also ridiculing his much touted strengthening of the naira,” the party said.

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has divulged why he refused to assent to the Peace Corp Bill.

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Buhari noted that security concerns and financial burden of funding the organisation are his reasons for his action.

He stated this in a letter he sent to the House of Representatives which was read during plenary on Tuesday (27/02/2018) by the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara.

To him, given the “scarce government resources”, funding the organisation will be a financial burden on the federal government.

He then noted that the organisation is a duplication of existing security agencies which are to undertake activities currently being performed by extant security and law enforcement agencies.

The National Assembly passed the Peace Corps Bill in 2017, after a prolonged battle involving the organisation and the nation’s security agencies.

The bill has been widely anticipated by many Nigerians, especially the youth who believe creation of the corps will reduce unemployment.

A senator belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hope Uzodimma, has stated why he is supporting the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari.

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Uzodimma said his support for Mr. Buhari is because he is the only candidate who will not extend his tenure beyond 2023 if re-elected in 2019.

The lawmaker noted that re-electing the president gives the Igbos the opportunity to produce a president from their extraction hence his support for him.

“Buhari is the only northerner who will do another four years if re-elected. Well, since that is the case, my answer is, why not? If they say I am campaigning for Buhari, so be it. I don’t owe anyone any apology for that.

“After all, it is only logical that as an Igbo man who is clamouring for the presidency to come to the south-east in 2023, I should support the candidate who I am sure will not be standing for re-election in 2023.

“Why should I support another northern candidate who will want to do another eight years and make Ndigbo wait till 2027 before producing the president of Nigeria? Yes, apart from the fact that President Buhari is good enough for re-election, he is the only northern candidate who, if elected, must relinquish power in 2023 thereby paving the way for the south-east. So, yes, I support his re-election and I think every right thinking South Easterner should do the same,” he said.

When reminded in an interview with Sun Newspaper that his action could lead to being accused of anti-party activities, Uzodimma said he placed the interest of his people first before any other consideration.

Asked if he will join the All Progressive Congress (APC) to actualise the re-election of the president, the lawmaker said, “Well, I am not sure I must join APC to pursue the interest of my people. It is on record that political parties may adopt candidates outside their parties because it is in their best interest to do so. For instance, APGA did it for Jonathan and I see them doing same for President Buhari. So I don’t need to join APC to pursue the noble agenda which will favour Ndigbo. But you know, in politics you never say, never! So, let us see how it goes. Time can change everything, you know.”

On why there is need for an Igbo President in 2023, Uzodimma said, “You see, it is supremely important because that will assure Ndigbo that the ugly events of the civil war have been truly put behind us.

“If by 2023, the presidency returns to the south and by acts of omission or commission, it eludes Ndigbo, then that will only be a confirmation that Igbo have not truly been accepted into the mainstream of Nigerian politics.

“As you know, in 1998, former Vice-President, late Alex Ekwueme was coasting home with the PDP presidential ticket. It took a high level conspiracy to stop him. Many people believed that it was because he was Igbo and because of the stigma of the civil war. So, if in 2023 Igbo are stopped again, the simple conclusion will be that the rest of Nigeria do not welcome them as equal stakeholders in Project Nigeria.