Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has told the Igbo nation that it should not expect the All Progressives Congress to fulfil its promise of an Igbo presidency after the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, if he gets reelected next year.
Obasanjo said this on Saturday at a stakeholders’ meeting at the Ukpor home of a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazuluke Amechi, in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State.
He therefore charged the Igbo to form a united front as the 2019 elections draw near by voting for the Peoples Democratic Party presidential ticket of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi.
He said Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, represents everything positive in the country.
Obasanjo told the gathering: “I urge you the Igbo not to allow anybody to relegate you to the background because you occupy a place of preeminence in this country.
“The Igbo must bury their differences and work together for the actualisation of the Atiku/Obi project in their best interest.
“It’s dangerous to take the APC government seriously.”
Obasanjo described Obi as a beacon of hope, asking him to reach out to major stakeholders in the South East to drum support for the 2019 PDP presidential project.
He said: “You and your presidential candidate have become the beacon of hope to all Nigerians who have had it so rough in the last four years.
“You need to think out of the box to take this country out of the woods caused by the incumbent clueless administrators.
“With your pedigree as a governor, I’m hopeful that things will work again in Nigeria under your leadership as vice president.”
Amaechi, a First Republic aviation minister, described Obi as good man, adding that the Atiku/Obi ticket was needed at a time like this.
Obi assured Nigerians that Abubakar and himself would not let the nation down.
The meeting was attended by several prominent South Easterners, including a former Minister of Power, Chief Barth Nnaji; former Minister of Health, ABC Nwosu; former Imo State Governor, Ikedi Ohakim; member of National Assembly, Chris Azubogu; and Chairman/CEO Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company, Chief Innocent Chukwuma.