2023: Confusion as ex-Imo gov Udenwa says southeast needs restructuring more than presidency
- Former governor of Imo state, Achike Udenwa, has declared his position on Igbo presidency
- Notable politicians have been urging both APC and the PDP to zone their presidential slot to the southeast
- But Udenwa in his submission said that the zone should be more interested in restructuring than the presidency in 2023
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Amid agitation for President Muhammadu Buhari's successor to come from the southeastern part of the country, a former governor of Imo state, Achike Udenwa, has declared that what the zone needs now is restructuring, not the presidency.
Udenwa made this known in an exclusive interview with The Sun, calling on the Igbo to hold their peace.
Legit.ng gathered that he also noted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has not decided on where its presidential candidate would come from.
Source: Twitter
The former governor maintained that what the Igbo and other ethnic nationalities need at the moment is restructuring more than the presidency, saying that the 2023 elections would be of no effect without restructuring.
He said:
“It is useless having an election again in this country without first restructuring the country. What do you want to achieve if you cede the presidency to the Igbo? What do the Igbo want to achieve with the president without restructuring? Let us all insist on restructuring before elections.”
Speaking on the recommendation of Governor Bala Mohammed's committee, Udenwa, who is a member of the PDP Board of Trustee, said the report which said that the party should throw its presidency open has not been accepted.
He further stressed that there are several organs of the party that the report has to go through, adding that in a meeting held last week by the leadership of the party, it was not affirmed that there should be rotation or no rotation.
Udenwa noted:
"We have never taken any decision on that. It is just a recommendation; it is not yet a policy of the PDP. What the panel was looking at was the ability and under what condition PDP will be able to win. Is it by zoning or by throwing it open?
I’m not too interested in the presidency as at now. I’m talking of restructuring. If we restructure then we can take up who becomes president. In fact, it becomes less material who becomes president. Where he comes from doesn’t matter any longer.
The PDP chieftain, however, stressed that if the country is restructured properly and that the states get enough powers and there is just a tiny exclusive list, it is then that people would no more care where the president comes from.
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These are the things we are talking of. All the big institutions are being manned by only people from one section of the country. This is where the conflict comes from, but by the time you restructure, most of those things become less important and you may not even be interested in where the president comes from.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that a famous Nollywood actor, Yul Edochie, promised to lift Nigerians out of poverty if elected as the country's next president in 2023.
It was reported that the movie star made the vow a month after he declared his presidential ambition on his Instagram page on Wednesday, February 17.
Source: Legit.ng
