Chairman, South East Governors Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Dave Umahi says that it is difficult to have a consensus Presidential Aspirant in the Southeast zone for the 2023 Presidential election because of the calibre of persons vying for the exalted position from the zone.

He said the best thing that should be done is to allow the Nigerian people to freely choose the persons from the zone they want for the position.

Umahi spoke in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state capital in an interview with visiting members of the Nigeria Guild of Editors.

He noted that what the country needs at this critical moment of our nation is the best hand who can develop infrastructure, somebody who is committed, has transparency in Governance and the fear of God, adding that consensus alone by the people of southeast themselves may not produce such a person.

The Governor opined that he possesses the best quality among other aspirants as his person fits perfectly, the quality of president Nigeria needs, to honestly move Nigeria to a greater country come 2023 if performance, competence and experience will count in the election of the next President.

"When people say that Igbo should come together and present one consensus aspirant among themselves, I continue to say there is nothing like that. The Igbos are not to be president of nigeria for the Igbos alone but for the entire nation. We are not the ones to choose who should be the President of Nigeria, it is Nigerians that should choose who should be their President. So, we have quite a good pool of aspirants from Southeast, Nigerians should choose among these aspirants.

“If they are looking for somebody who can develop infrastructure, somebody who is committed, has the fear of God and has very wonderful ratings in terms of transparency in governance, then they will see somebody from Ebonyi and they are other aspirants also from Southeast that have other qualities including some of my own qualities. Nigerians are there to make their choice. What kind of President do we want at this our challenging moment? That should be the question that should be on the lips of Nigerians now".

He however lamented that our brothers from South South and South West who are also aspirants are more in number than that of the South East and that should not be if the much talked about equity, justice and fairness must be followed in the choice of the next President of the country.

"We all thought that the minds of the South is that when this thing comes to the south that equity is allowing southeast a chance, but if is that we should continue to vote for our brothers and no opportunity to be voted for then there is no justice in that kind of arrangement. It then means that we cunningly came together as people from the south to blackmail the North on the pretext of justice , equity and fairness but wouldn’t allow it to trickle down to the southeast region. I call that blackmail theory, meaning that it was no longer on the platform of equity and justice. So, it’s a blackmail and if that is a blackmail, the Southeast should pull out of the blackmail and then say, look, if you are not basing this thing on equity and justice, then every part of the country must be allowed to contest.

"South will no longer cry of marginalization because marginalization cannot just stop between the North and South. When it comes to South, it has to also trickle down to the three regions with different cultural background, that’s the position and I think this opinion should be enhanced because justice is justice, fairness is fairness, equity is equity and I have seen that the body language of Mr. President is that this zoning should come to South but if it is thrown to the South and justice and fairness and equity is being denied, then, if I am the one giving it, I have to reconsider my position and that is the truth. So, our brothers and sisters in South South and South West should please think about tomorrow. If fairness is denied the South East, will there be any kind of unity again as people with common voice of the south for the so called justice, equity and fairness?” he stated.

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