Igbos should not bother about presidency in 2019 – Orji Kalu

Former Governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor Kalu, has said that Igbo people should not bother about producing Nigeria’s president in 2019.

Speaking to Punch, Kalu stated that if President Muhammadu Buhari doesn’t want to run, another candidate from the North should be picked to complete their eight-year tenure.

“We have a sitting president in the All Progressives Congress and if he is not running again in 2019, the North should complete their eight-year tenure but I would advise President Buhari to run because he is entitled to a second term under the constitution,” he said.

Kalu also told Igbos to wait until 2023, before they think of producing a president.

He added: “Yes. The Igbo will produce the president in 2023. If Buhari is not running in 2019, another Hausa man should be allowed to complete his second term. When Yar’Adua died, Jonathan came but if he had listened to the people’s advice, this situation will not be there because if I were Jonathan, I would have ruled for six years and allowed other people to run.

“Other tribes have produced a president, so it is the turn of the Igbo too. Obasanjo was elected president in 1999 despite the fact that the Yoruba did not vote for him. He lost in his ward; I was there on the Election Day. So, any Igbo man that is widely accepted can be president of Nigeria. How did Obasanjo and Buhari become president? Are they better than any Igbo man? The answer is no! 

The issue is that if they know how they made Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari president, they should also make an Igbo man president so that there can be complete unity and we would forget about the civil war because not making an Igbo president will still remind our people that the marginalisation which started after the civil war has not ended.”