February 16, 2022

Claims that South East may not produce capable hands who will occupy the office of the Nigerian president come 2023 has once more been debunked.

Speaking on Arise Television, Ahmed Buhari, a former presidential aspirant under the auspices of Sustainable National Party of Nigeria, during the 2019 general election, said that every section of the country has individuals who can pilot the affairs of the country credibly if given the Opportunity.

Making a case for Southern Presidency come 2023, Buhari said that it’s just fair that the next president be zoned to the South. According to him, in 2015, the North cried loudly that power should shift to the North after Goodluck Jonathan saying it’s the same argument in 2015 that produced President Mohammed Buhari, a Northerner to fill the slot of the North after Jonathan from the South South.

He wondered why the same people who clamour for power shift then to the North are now opposing the same power shift to the South. He however emphasized that for the sake of equity and fairness, the presidential slot should further be micro zoned to South East once ceded to the South. Because South East is the only zone in the entire South that has not produced the president of Nigeria since the advent of Democracy in 1999, he said.

According to him there are arrays of eminently qualified persons from the South East who have indicated interest in the job. Mentioning Orji Kalu, Rochas Okorocha and Anyim Pius Anyim, Buhari said that the credentials of all of them should be placed on the table for examination.

But among all of them that have indicated interest in the presidency from South East, Buhari says, if given opportunity to choose, that Anyim stands out. According to him, Anyim performance in the Senate as its president when the National Assembly was in turmoil, his stabilizing roles at that point, marked him out as one who could be entrusted with leadership and he will be sure to deliver.

Buhari recalled that Anyim’s role in the office of secretary to government of the federation where he was the head of all ministries and agencies and how he managed a rancor free free civil servants without being a career civil servant he said, is another thing anyone should not over look in choosing a candidate for next presidential election. Buhari also noted that Anyim disposition on restructuring gives him out as a leader who is ready to listen and carry everyone along.

He therefore maintained that Anyim’s roles so far at the national level distinguish him out as one with the best exposure and experience to provide the desired leadership to  Nigeria. Anyim’s age, at 60, Buhari noted,  is another factor that plays in his favour. According to him, Anyim’s age places him in the middle of the pack between the youth and the aged.

Buhari noted that the attack against the Igbos presidency is mainly coming from those who are oblivious of the roles the Igbos are playing in the unity of Nigeria saying that a lot of Igbos have made Nigerians proud both within and outside the country. Buhari observed that Anyim’s reaction to some of those criticisms has been very reassuring, emphasizing that his position remains, how do we move forward. According to him, this is a man whose mindset is not just on looking at challenges but more concerned about finding the solutions, insisting that only someone with such positive dispositions can bring the desired leadership which is badly needed now in Nigeria, he said.