By STANLEY UZOARU, Owerri

Igbo youths under the aegis of the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has vowed that it will resist any attempt by any individual, party or group to thwart the ambition of the southeast zone from producing the next president of the country in 2023.

COSEYL, the umbrella body of all the youth organizations in the South East geopolitical zone saddled with the responsibility of speaking and defending the political interest of the zone in a statement by the President General, Gooluck Ibem yesterday in Owerri insisted that Ndigbo have highly qualified persons for the plum job “nobody can deny that fact. It is our turn and it is sine qua non.”

Ibem added “the time for South East to produce a Nigerian president is overdue. We have sacrificed, worked and waited patiently for the plum job and we cannot accept any form of excuse this time.

“It is an undeniable fact that Ndigbo have been more commited to the development and economic advancement of the country and deserves to be supported by other geopolitical zones to occupy the number one office in the country.

“The orchestrated plot by some persons to jettison zoning of the presidency now that it is the turn of the South East to produce a Nigerian President come 2023 is a declaration of Political war against Ndigbo. It is a calculated attempt to relegated to the background all the sacrifices and Political investments made by Ndigbo towards the progress of the country and we will resist it.” Ibem stated.

The youths have however urged all political parties in the country to zone their ticket to southeast .

”The imperativeness of the moment demand that the All Progressive Congress, APC, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and other political parties must as a matter of necessity zone its presidential ticket to the South-East, if we hold the unity and progress of this country at heart.

“It is not only an insult to the people of the South East, it is also a total chicanery of the zoning principle that has been the hallmark of our national politics since 1999 and more pertinently a deception of Ndigbo, who have invested their all since the return to democratic government.” He added.

On the Peoples Democratic Party’s(PDP) decision to alter the zoning arrangement and give its ticket to any zone, Ibem said.

“In PDP, the rotation and zoning principle was engrained into the party’s constitution in 2009.

“Article 7 (2) (c) of the PDP constitution states ” In pursuance of the principle of equity, Justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of the party and public elective offices, and it shall be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels.

“The North has produced the president for uninterrupted two terms and in all fairness power has to move South, specifically to South East, in the spirit of equity, fairness, rotation and zoning which has been the practice since the return to democracy in 1999.

“The other five geopolitical zones should support us having benefited from our unalloyed support all this time. Enough said.” Ibem stated. (Daily Sun)

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