The South East geopolitical zone may lose out in the 2023 presidential race if it fails to engage in horse trading with other geopolitical zones of the country.
The Senator representing Imo West and immediate past governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, stated this in Abuja on Thursday while fielding questions from journalists after taking his oath of office as a Senator.
Okorocha stressed the need for the zone to ‘get married’ politically with other geopolitical zones, even as he lamented that the area has lost out politically in the scheme of things in both the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former governor-turned lawmaker promised to build the political bridge of the South East with other geopolitical zones.
“There is need for the Igbos to mend political fences, relate with every Nigerian, play politics the Nigerian way of politics and get things right. And that will help them for the development of the South East politically,” he said.
On whether the APC will zone the 2023 Presidential ticket to the South East, he described the Igbo Presidency as a mirage.
According to him, Nigerians have come of age politically, and that they care less about where their President would come from in 2023, but who will put food on the table.
His words: “One thing about this Presidency which has become a major issue is that power is not given, power is taken. South East cannot just fold their hands and want power to be given to them. Nobody will just give you power because you want power. Power does not go with sentiment some of the time. It goes with issues on ground.
“And democracy is about majority of the people. And South East cannot make themselves President. So you cannot be talking about Ibo Presidency. It doesn’t exist. You might be talking about Nigerian President of Igbo extraction. But that is also depending on what other geopolitical zones think about the issues. So, Ibos cannot just be President alone. I think they have to do more job, relate, interact with people. Because Nigerians have grown beyond ethnic sentiments. And as we grow better in democracy, we now realise that people will be talking about issues rather than sentiments of where you come from.
“For me, what is important in our country is that let power be given to that person who has something upstairs and who can put food on the table of the common man, irrespective of his religion or where he comes from. That is all that Nigerians ask for. And that is what we should be thinking about rather than this emphasis of where you come from: you are Ibo, you are Hausa, you are Yoruba. Of what sense does it make if you are Ibo and you become a President and Ibo, Yoruba and Hausa are hungry? I think we have got to a point in our nation’s political history when we must think about that person who has something upstairs and can put food on the table of the common man. That is the kind of person we are looking at for 2023”.
Okorocha is not the first to rule out the South East in the 2023 Presidential race. Other prominent Nigerians who have declared this included Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; immediate past Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and his counterpart in Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
