On May 29, 2023, a new president will be sworn in to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari. It will be Nigeria’s date with destiny; a date to correct a perceived long-standing injustice if a president of Igbo extraction is voted into power. The agitation is already in top gear as political leaders, prominent socio-economic groups from the south-east seem to be in unison that it is time for Ndigbo to have a taste of the presidency, and in an uncommon agreement, there seems a consensus that come May 29, 2023, power must rotate to the region to balance what they view as an unfair inequality.
Nigeria’s political history has witnessed the regional North being the dominant political group, taking the largest chunk of presidential leadership since independence, followed by the Yoruba of the South-West that have also led the country for exactly 11 years and 11 months.
The argument is that the Igbo who are the third largest ethnic group have had the short end of the stick when it comes to political power at the center with just six months of Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi (January 15 – July 29, 1966) to refer to. Though it is often debated that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe also led Nigeria, but the highly revered nationalist was only a ceremonial president.
Nonetheless, let’s pause to ponder: Is there an Igbo man or woman with enough clout to contest the presidency come 2023? Is there any Igbo personality out there who is capable of getting the minds of the majority of Nigerians to vote him or her come 2023?
After carefully sieving through the array of prominent Igbo leaders in the political scape, do any of the eleven personalities that made the final list below stand a chance at grabbing the highest political position in Nigeria? Let us x-ray them…
OGBONNAYA ONU
The first executive governor of Abia State and Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, is one Igbo son who has been in the mainstream of national politics for years. The Ebonyi State political heavy weight was once the National Chairman of All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP).
He is also not a green horn in the business of presidential tussles having been the flag bearer for the All Peoples Party (APP) in 1999 but stepped down for Olu Falae when his party merged with the Alliance for Democracy (AD) for the presidential contest which Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP won.
Onu, being an experienced political man can be given the required support to contest for the 2023 presidency.
PETER OBI
The former two-term governor of Anambra State and Vice Presidential candidate with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar under the PDP, in the 2019 presidential election. He is one of the possible presidential candidates that Ndigbo can put forward for 2023 presidency. Obi appears to be among the few politicians who have held public office without a corruption case to answer.
Having contested for the presidency with Atiku, he is eminently qualified, experience and adept with the kind of politicking obtainable at the presidential level.
Read Also: Ohanaeze Ndigbo Should Be Grassroots-Based – G.U. Okeke
IKE EKWEREMADU
Former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu who was reelected for the fifth time to the Red Chambers, to represent Enugu West Senatorial District – of Enugu State is another high ranking Igbo son with national prominence. It might be argued that he does not have that political network that inspires a presidential aura but he is up on the list of the possible politicians that Ndigbo can put forward for the 2023 presidency.
However, just like most Nigerian politicians, Ekweremadu is not corruption free. In March 2018, the federal government applied to the Federal High Court in Abuja for an order of temporary forfeiture of no fewer than 22 properties purportedly owned by him – in Abuja, London, the United States and the United Arab Emirates. On August 1, 2018, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detained him for questioning. He has long denied all the accusations.
ROCHAS OKOROCHA
The flamboyant ex-governor of Imo State and presently a senator of the federal republic of Nigeria is one big Igbo politician who stands a chance at the presidency in 2023. He is an experienced head in presidential struggles as he has contested for the presidency several times. Though many still remember how he failed in his quest to force his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, on the people of Imo State as his successor, he is not withstanding no push over when it comes to navigating Nigeria’s unpredictable political terrain.
Okorocha has always nursed a presidential ambition. He stands tall as an Igbo presidential hopeful. He knows the game.
NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA
The former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy is one Igbo woman who has distinguished herself at the national and international front. Okonjo-Iweala has proven managerial skills which can be channeled productively into governance.
Okonjo-Iweala was painstaking in her dealings while she was a minister and well-liked by the international community. She has since returned to international work and was only recently appointed to the board of Twitter. Presenting her for the presidential race will elicit positive reaction with the voting public. She can be the right presidential hopeful that Ndigbo can project for the 2023 presidential race.
THEODORE ORJI
The former two-term governor of Abia State, simply known as T. A. Orji, is another likely presidential hopeful that Ndigbo may position for 2023 presidency. Orji was re-elected to the senate to represent Abia Central senatorial district of Abia State. It is argued in some political circle not to have accomplished any meaningful feat in terms of development for the people of Abia State especially in the infrastructural development of Aba, the State’s commercial hub.
Orji, who was governor from 2007 to 2015 was interrogated at the EFCC office, in November 2018, in Abuja over allegations that he mismanaged of about N27b. The allegations leveled against him include an alleged diversion of billions of Naira disbursed to Abia State by the Central Bank of Nigeria for Small and Medium Enterprise, diversion of money from the Ecological Fund account, that was earmarked for tackling erosion and other disasters peculiar to the state, diversion of money from Abia State Oil Producing Development Area Commission, an agency of government set up for the development of the oil producing areas of Abia State.
KINGSLEY MOGHALU
The former candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), in the 2019 presidential elections, Kingsley Moghalu, is another bright candidate for Igbo presidency come 2023. The professor in International Business and Public Policy served as deputy governor of financial system stability and as director of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 2009 to 2014.
OBY EZEKWESILI
The former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, is one woman that has made national indelible marks and is credible. Popularly known as Mama Due Process, Oby speaks truth to power.
She is daring and treads where many men will not stand up to be counted. She is one of the prominent drivers of the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign that was formed after the kidnap of the 276 Chibok girls in April 2014, in Borno State. She with others used the movement to draw the attention of the international community to the incident.
The former Vice President of the World Bank’s Africa division, is also experienced in the presidential tussle having contested for the presidency under the platform of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) in the last presidential election, though she stepped down, two weeks away from the election, due to varying values and visions within the party. She was later accused by her party executives of looting her presidential campaign donations, an allegation she vehemently denied.
CHARLES SOLUDO
Former CBN governor and Professor of Economics, Charles Soludo is one prominent son of Igboland who cannot be overlooked despite operating under the radar lately. The former governorship aspirant in Anambra State is another person that the Igbos can put forward for 2023.
Soludo, however, was once immersed in allegations of bribery involving Securency Pty Limited of Australia and officials of both the CBN and the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) PLC over the supply of polymer substrate to Nigeria.
DAVID UMAHI
The re-elected governor of Ebonyi State and the Chairman of South-east Governors’ Forum, David Umahi, is another person that Ndigbo can present to accomplish the Igbo presidential dream come 2023. Though, he is widely seen as a closet supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari. In all the five South-Eastern States, the president got more votes from his state- though he is in the PDP and this might work for or against his acceptance if presented to run for the highest office in the land.
Umahi has a case at the EFCC where he is being investigated for N400m arms funds which former President Goodluck Jonathan purportedly allocated to the PDP in his state during the build up to the 2015 presidential election.
EMEKA IHEDIOHA
The former deputy speaker House of Representatives and governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha, is another Igbo son that can be moved for the presidential contest in 2023. His administrative might is already being felt in Imo state. A communication expert par excellence, he worked with various top-rate organizations and consultancy firms before responding fulltime to the call of his natural love and vocation, which is politics. And in this field of public service, he has built a rich background of experience from various high calibre positions that afforded him opportunity to serve his fatherland. In 1992, he was appointed Press Officer to then Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Iyorchia Ayu. Barely a year later, he was appointed as Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Senate President of that era.
He became the Director of Publicity of the newly formed Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), the famous purveyor of the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998. Suffice to say that in that capacity, he played very crucial and prominent roles in the emergence of the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 1999.
Ihedioha was appointed into certain key positions in the budding democratic dispensation: first as Special Assistant to the Presidential Adviser on Utilities (July 1999); later, Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President of Senate (November 1999); and eventually Special Assistant on Political Matters to the Vice President (September 2001). It was from this position in the Office of the Vice President that he contested election and won a seat into the House of Representatives as Member representing Aboh-Mbaise-Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency of Imo State in 2003.
Nigerians generally believe that the Igbos deserve to be given the opportunity of producing the next President come 2023 as one of the major ethnic groups in the country. To deny them the opportunity of taking a shot at the presidency in 2023 could be a collective denial of the will of the Nigerian people.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS
