From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The social-cultural club, Hilltop Club 1972, has charged the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to zone their 2023 presidential tickets to the South East geo-political zone.
The group, which consists of public officers, technocrats, academics, professionals and leaders of thought of Enugu State origin, said this is necessary in the spirit of equity and fair play.
The social cultural group, in a statement by Emeka Ibe abd Pascal Ozioko, chairman and secretary, respectively, said South-Easterners have invested have invested substantially in the Nigerian project. It noted that a presidential of South East extraction in 2023 will help to deepen national unity.
According to be them, “for purposes of clarity, since the return of the country to civilian rule in 1979, Nigeria has had 3 (three) Presidents from the North (President Shehu Shagari, President Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and now President Muhammadu Buhari), 1 (one) South-West President (President Olusegun Obasanjo) as well as Mr. Ernest Shonekan, Leader of the civilian interim government of Nigeria, 1 (one) South-South President (President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan) and no President of South-East extraction.
“Apart from the afore-specified imbalance in the Presidency of Nigeria, there is a climate of opinion that the Igbos from the South-East are still being victimized in Nigeria on account of the Biafran civil war despite the no-victor-no-vanquished declaration at the end of war, which has been observed far more in breach.
“The 2023 presidential election in Nigeria presents a perfect opportunity for Nigeria to heal the wounds of the Biafran civil war, remedy the marginalisation of the South-East from the mainstream of Nigerian politics, and indeed comply with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Constitutions of the PDP and APC.
“The additional case for a Nigerian President of South-East extraction in 2023 is a pragmatic one founded on the fact that of all the ethnic groups in Nigeria, the South-Easterners have invested most in the Nigerian project as they live and invest in virtually every nook and cranny of Nigeria, championing small and medium scale enterprises– the engine of growth in any economy.
“Hence, the proponents of the South-East President of Nigeria in 2023, including the Hilltop Club 1972, take the view that a Nigerian President of South-East extraction in 2023 will not only promote the ‘national unity’ of Nigeria and the ‘national loyalty’ of Nigerians, but also unleash the ingenuity of the Igbos and other ethnic groups in the country and redirect Nigeria on the path of stability, economic recovery and sustainable development.”