Ume-Ezeoke, Others Seek One Party for Igbo
2007 Presidency
From Emmanuel Ugwu in Enugu
There are moves to get politicians from the South-east zone to mass on a single political platform for the purpose of actualising the Igbo 2007 presidency project.
Making the proposal is a political forum led by Second Republic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Edwin Umeh-Ezeoke, which met in Enugu on Sunday to chart a course for the realization of the South-east's desire to produce the president in 2007.
The meeting, which was held at the residence of the National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chekwas Okorie, was attended by Igbo elite from other political parties, especially the All Nigerian People's Party (ANPP).
Apart from Ume-Ezeoke and Okorie, other politicians present at the meeting included former information minister, John Nwodo, former military administrator of Oyo State, Col. Ike Nwosu, Captain Joe Orji, John Okamu, among others.
In a communiqu� read to newsmen by Honourable Emeka Nwajuba, the forum expressed support for the election of a "Nigerian of Igbo extraction" to lead the nation in 2007 even if that means "abrogating all our political interests on one political platform".
Towards this end, the group frowned at what it called the political balkanization of Igboland, and vowed to sanction any Igbo politician who "lends himself as agent" for those bent on scuttling the 2007 Ndigbo presidency project.
They promised to convene an enlarged meeting of Igbo political leaders soon where important decisions would be taken for the actualization of the Igbo presidency project.
The forum also decried the manipulation of the electoral system as witnessed in the last elections, and resolved to fight "assiduously" for the restoration of the sanctity of the ballot box as a credible means of installing and removing a government in a democracy.
It deplored the apparent inability of the judiciary to "timely and judiciously" resolve the disputes arising from the last general elections.
Speaking on the meeting, Okorie said the attendance was representative of the "cream of the political leadership of the south-east."
He listed those who could not attend but sent goodwill messages to include Senator Jim Nwobodo, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Prof. Bath Nnaji, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu and Dr Kalu Idika Kalu.
The controvesy over which of the five other zones apart from the South-west from where President Olusegun Obasanjo comes will produce his successor in 2007 has been on since March.
Kaduna State governor, Ahmed Makarfi, fired the first salvo when he said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had zoned the position to the North in line with the power sharing arrangement agreed in 1999. But South-east governors led by Chief Achike Udenwa of Imo State have refuted the claim.
Several other PDP leaders inlcuding Obasanjo, however, said the PDP has not taken a position on the issue. Obasanjo said apart from his own zone, the South-west, all the other zones will be free to bid for the position pending the time the party will deliberate on the issue.
It is expected that the PDP leadership may make a pronouncement on the issue as part of the re-zoning exercise prior to its national convention next year at which new national executive committee members will be elected.
However, the other registered parties, particularly the ANPP and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) which were registered alongside PDP in 1999 but which did not include the zoning arrangement in their constitutions' have remained silent on the issue.
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