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...South-East demand legitimate
-Udenwa
DANIEL IDONOR, Abuja
GOVERNOR
Achike Udenwa of Imo State has identified equity and fairness as the rationale
behind the struggle of Ndigbo to produce the country’s president in 2007.
Reaffirming the decision of South-East
governors to produce the next president, Gov. Udenwa said equity and fairness
demand that the most neglected zone should produce the country’s president in
2007.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, on his
way to Katsina State, the governor said there was no time that the nation’s
political business was carried out on North and South basis.
"Rather, historically or constitutionally,
it had been run under regions - North, West and East or under geo-political
zones - North-West, North-East, North-Central, South-West, South-East and
South-South," he said.
According to him, "talking about the three
regions, the North has ruled this country for 35 years out of the 44 years of
her independence; the West will complete 12 years in 2007 while the East had
only a six-month crisis-ridden rulership, under Aguiyi-Ironsi.
"And when you want to talk about the
newly-created six geo-political zones, the North Central had Gen. Yakubu Gowon;
IBB (Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida) and Abdulsalami Abubakar; the North East had
(the late) Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, while the North-West also had (the late)
Gen. Murtala Mohammed and the late Gen. Sani Abacha," he added.
The South-West, Gov. Udenwa noted, has had
Chief Ernest Shonekan and incumbent President.
From the foregoing, it is clear that there
is no North and South, but North, West and East or the six zones," he said.
Gov. Udenwa also stated that far beyond
past efforts by the South-East to capture the elusive top position, it was now
more than determined to produce the president in 2007.
"The South-East is very much committed to
2007. The fact that nobody has come out does not mean that we are not much more
ready than in the past. We are not only ready but very united and focused to
pursue our destiny", he said.
Delving into a claim that an Igbo from
outside the five states of the South-East zone will not be acceptable to the
core Ndigbo, Gov. Udenwa said such candidate will be accepted, "provided
such a candidate had been identifying with the Igbo race in the past."
While soliciting the support and
co-operation of all Nigerians in ensuring that an Igbo emerges President in
2007, he said that only enough understanding of the issue by other Nigerians
could guarantee fairness, equity and justice in the Nigerian project.
Governor Udenwa also denied insinuations that the
South-East has lost the Board of Trustees Chairmanship of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), insisting that the position is still very much vacant "as we only
have an acting chairman", adding that "at the appropriate time, we will produce
the chairman".
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