It is wrong to assume South East not united in Igbo presidency project – Okorie

Chekwas Okorie is a former national chairman of the defunct Unity Progressive Congress (UPP) and one of the founders of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). In this exclusive interview with INIOBONG IWOK, he says the Southeast is only keen on voting, and supports only political parties that zone the presidency to the region in 2023. He also spoke on the spate of insecurity, calls for restructuring, among other issues in the polity. Excerpts:

How did you receive the news of the change of the service chiefs by President Muhammadu Buhari?

Well, it is better late than never. So, when the President came up with the changes he had exercised his prerogative because it was part of his duty and he also listened to the voice of the people in effecting these changes. And one thing I noticed is a more balanced federal character in the appointments. We have the service chiefs from the North and South, unlike in the past. The Chief of Defence Staff is from Delta State and the other is from Osun State. So, it is somehow balanced in terms of strategic positions. Two of the service chiefs were commanders of their troops at some point; in fact, the Chief of Army Staff was former head of the joint forces; so, they have some level of experience covering the areas. That is why you are seeing the jubilation in some of the formations, including those who are not in barracks. The change was well received. They have to hit the ground running and justify their appointments. We want to see a more aggressive onslaught against the insurgence; more synergy within the armed forces and better cooperation.

But a lot of people in the South East, including the immediate past Ohanaeze Ndigbo president-general, John Nwodo have criticised the President for not appointing any Igbo man among the service chiefs?

I want to ally myself more with the comment of the new Ohanaeze leader, Professor Obiozor. The Chief of Defence Staff is an Igbo man from Agbor; his information is there to show where he comes from. His other names are Igbo and he comes from a Christian background and even his name Irabor is an Igbo name. If you are talking about Igbo; we are not entirely left out; but if you are talking of the South East that is a different ball game; because they are six you can say we deserved one. And I am more inclined to the statement by the authentic leadership of Ohanaeze, headed by Obiozor and I can say by his leadership Ohanaeze has gone back to the days of constructive engagement. The statement is credited to Nwodo; he no longer can speak for Igbos. That you are coordinator of the Middle-belt group does not mean the same with Ohanaeze.

Those people have clearly marked themselves out as an opposition group. To stay in that position and think you still speak for the Igbo’s is a very bad thing. He is a man of my age bracket; I supported and worked for his emergence. But it would be very wrong for him to continue to speak for Ndigbo when we have a leader. He should know his reign is over; otherwise he would bring himself down.

So, are you satisfied with President Buhari’s handling of security issues in the Southwest which has worsened of late?

Every Nigerian is worried with the spate of insecurity in Nigeria. The Governor of Ondo exercised his power, but it was misinterpreted but the President intervened to check the incident from escalating to mayhem and they met with the leadership of the herdsmen. You can say that the governor was right according to the law. Other governors would take a cue from that, because it is not just about the South East, other governors were in that meeting, like the Kebbi State Governor and I want to believe all would be well.

Agitation for Igbo presidency in 2023 is heating up; do you think it is realisable?

It is very realisable; it is more feasible in 2023 than any other time. It is conventional but not in the constitution, even that rotation is in the PDP constitution and in APC where I belong; it is becoming a bit difficult to convince Nigerians that after eight years of President Buhari that another Northerner would want to continue from there. So, everything looks favourable for the South to be considered for the APC ticket. But when you now talk about the South, the Yorubas have had their turn when Obasanjo ruled for eight years, after that we had Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan tenure, we know that Jonathan moved on to rule for six years.

So, it is only the South-East and for the interest of the equity, it is appropriate that the region get the president slot in 2023. So, the way I am seeing it, the PDP may not zone the presidency to the South East in 2023.

In the UPP, we adopted Buhari as presidential candidate in 2019, because we felt it is appropriate so that he can do eight years and it would come to the South. Our party collapsed into APC and we are now in APC fully. APC has two governors in the region, one, through election and the second defected to the party, and we believe that we would win the Anambra governorship election later in the year.

But it appears the APC may not be willing to zone the presidency to the South East. For example, the campaign for Tinubu presidential ambition has gathered momentum since the beginning of the year and so many other people have also declared interest.

Tinubu is an individual, he has rights in APC, and so do others. Let me tell you we constitute the second largest population in the country; all the states have a large Igbo population. Across the party line, Igbo leaders met in January in Orji Uzor Kalu’s residence; we had the likes of Ekweremadu, Pius Anyim, me and several people from other parties and we arrived at a resolution which was made available. We resolved that any party that gives the presidential ticket to Igbo man in 2023 would get the votes of Igbos massively across the country. This was a statement across party lines and we have resolved to hold the meeting there more frequently to review events.

There is fear in some quarters that some of your leaders may compromise and settle for a vice presidential ticket. Do you agree?

That is a very unfair comment. There is no time Igbo people ever sold out; any person saying that should back it up with facts. For example, when Alex Ekwueme came out in 1999, he did not just have overwhelming support of the Igbos, everyone voted for him but the military in conspiracy gave the slot to someone who did not even win his voting unit. And we had Peter Obi become a running mate to Atiku. There has been none of such; we have always supported our own. In 2019, it was only little votes that the APC used in defeating the PDP in Lagos State because of Igbo there. We are very emotional and sentimental when it comes to power in the South East and you would see what would happen now that we have taken that decision.

Hundred percent of Igbo votes nationwide would go to any party that field Igbo man as candidate in 2023 across Nigeria.

But some leaders have said that the election may not hold except restructuring of the country is carried out by the President. What is your take?

We are hundred percent in support of restructuring the country and we have always said that. But what some people cannot do is threaten anybody to say that without restructuring there would not be an election in 2023. Those saying that, have they gone to war before? We don’t threaten, we believe we have made our point, we would use our votes to speak, but we can say no election without restructuring; they said so in 2019 but there was an election. The National Assembly is on with constitutional amendment; we have submitted our memorandum of understanding and we are following it up and I have seen the memorandum from other parts of the country.

Do you believe the Electoral Act, if not amended, can guarantee free and fair election?

Yes, we are optimistic; the Electoral Act amendment is on. Look at the Ondo and Edo elections; but we believe it can be better. With the test run of the electronic voting in the Anambra election later in the year, our election would be more credible and we are confident things would improve.