December 13, 2021

Senator Anyim Pius Anyim’s quest to clinch the Presidential ticket of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and subsequently the Presidency come 2023 is receiving nationwide goodwill and approval.

Anyim, a former President of the Senate and Secretary to the Government of the Federation has served notice of intent to contest for the office of President in 2023 under the PDP. Anyim’s quest seems to have struck the right note as several groups in the north and south have volunteered to push the Anyim agenda to fruition.

His consultation has taken him to different parts of the country with resounding grassroots support. Recently, it was the turn of no fewer than 30 Arewa groups who openly endorsed the candidacy of Anyim.

The group, a coalition of 30 civil society groups of northern extraction called the Arewa Concerned Civil Society Organisations of Nigeria (ACSSON) Support Group for Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim for President 2023 was inaugurated with the sole aim of realising the Anyim Presidency.

The group was inaugurated in Kaduna by an octogenarian, Alhaji Yaro Makama Rigachikun, former PDP Chairman, Kaduna State, who described Anyim as “the man we are looking for.”

“With Anyim as President, Nigeria will be more united and prosperous,” he told the gathering of pro-Anyim northerners.

He listed the qualities of the next Nigerian President to include: integrity, nationalism and capacity.

“The president of Nigeria we need in 2023 must be a man of integrity and capacity with proven knowledge of how government works. He must be a man who believes in one Nigeria and has demonstrated that by how he relates with people from every part of this country. We need a man who will build bridges of friendship and togetherness.

“We need a tried and tested consensus builder to bring Nigeria back together as one united and indivisible country. We need a man who is competent and has proved his competence from the services he has rendered to our country in various capacities,” he said.

The groups include: Arewa Youth Assembly; Arewa Students Forum; Concerned Northern Forum; North East Peace Movement; Arewa Youth Council; Northern Youth Assembly; Northern Women Initiative Forum; North East Development Council; North Central Grassroots Foundation; Arewa Female Youth Ambassadors Initiative; Initiative of Youth Advocate on Humanitarian Affairs; Arewa Youth Movement; Tiv Youth Initiative  for Peace; Middlebelt Vanguard; Northern Youth Network; etc.

Anyim had also visited the Emir of Lafia,  Nasarawa state, Hon Justice Sidi Bage, Muhammad 1, in continuation of his nationwide consultation. Anyim and his entourage were warmly welcomed at the Emir’s palace.

The first class traditional ruler who is a retired Justice of the Supreme Court thanked Anyim for the visit and wished him well in the pursuit of his ambition.

Thanking the Emir for the warm reception, Anyim said, “my experience at the palace will ever remain memorable.

“Whenever (the Emir) responded to my brief address, he spoke from the heart and concluded with a touch of a royal blessing.

“I cannot thank His Royal Highness enough for the inspiration of a greater Nigeria I drew from his speech today.

From the South West, some Yoruba youths have commenced the process of forming a formidable front in support of a former secretary to the government of the federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, to become president in 2023.

The youths under “Omo Egbé Anyim Rere” also known as Anyim South West Agenda in a statement signed by its national leader, Comrade Olusegun Lawal, urged youth organisations nationwide to key into the movement.

Lawal in statement said his group scrutinised the credentials of various aspirants jostling for presidential tickets from different political parties and realised that Anyim stood the chance of making a better president.

He, however, stressed the importance of an Igbo presidency to national unity and development, adding that Anyim as one of the most popular and decorated politicians from the South East, had the political network to garner support from every part of the country.

“We have examined and scrutinised the political weight of those seeking party nominations for presidential ticket come 2023, Anyim has the best political pedigree, having been senate president between the year 2000 and 2003 and secretary to the government of the federation. He has over the years built a resourceful political network across the nooks and crannies of this country and I’m sure this will work to his advantage.

“Let us not forget the critical factor of having a Nigerian president of Igbo origin in 2023, this is very key to Nigeria’s unity,” he stated.

Several groups from the South east have given their blessings to Anyim as he steps into the arena. From his state, Ebonyi, his party, the PDP, has made a declaration that “it’s Anyim and no one else.”

Speaking recently after the State Working Committee meeting of the Party at Abakaliki, Nwoba Chika Nwoba, the state publicity secretary of PDP, said that the leadership of  the party resolved that the choice of Anyim as presidential candidate of the party is not negotiable.

According to Mr. Tochuku Okorie, the chairman of the party in the state, Ebonyi is lucky and proud to have Anyim as a citizen of the state, or else, he said, “Anyim is one Nigerian who is eminently qualified on his own irrespective of his state of origin” to steer what he described as “the current rudderless ship of Nigeria” into a successful anchor.

Okorie stated that the resolution of the Working Committee of the party to stand with Anyim is not just because he is from Ebonyi but because his pedigree is unassailable stating that “his past is an elegant testimony of what his future holds for Nigeria.”