2023: Igbo Youths Vow To Resist Any Attempt To Deny Igbo Presidency

• “It is undeniable that Ndigbo have been more committed to the country’s development and economic advancement, and they deserve support from other geopolitical zones to occupy the country’s top office.

Igbo youths, united under the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), have pledged to defy any attempt by any individual, party, or group to derail the southeast zone’s desire to produce the country’s next president in 2023.

In a statement issued yesterday in Owerri by the President General, Gooluck Ibem, COSEYL, the umbrella body of all youth organizations in the South East geopolitical zone charged with the responsibility of speaking and protecting the zone’s political interests, insisted that Ndigbo have highly qualified people for the plum job, saying “nobody can deny that fact.” It’s our turn, and it’s a requirement.”

“The time for the South East to produce a Nigerian president is long overdue,” Ibem added. We’ve made sacrifices, worked hard, and waited patiently for this opportunity, and we won’t accept any excuses this time.

“Some people’s orchestrated plot to abolish presidential zoning now that the South East is set to produce a Nigerian President in 2023 is a declaration of political war against Ndigbo. It is a calculated attempt to push all of Ndigbo’s sacrifices and political investments toward the country’s progress to the background, and we will fight it.” As noted by Ibem.

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The youths, on the other hand, have urged all political parties in the country to zone their presidential ticket to the southeast. “The exigencies of the moment demand that the All Progressive Congress, APC, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and other political parties must, as a matter of necessity, zone their presidential ticket to the South-East, if we are to maintain the country’s unity and progress,” they said.

“It is not only an insult to the people of the South East; it is also a complete misunderstanding of the zoning principle, which has been the hallmark of our national politics since 1999, and, more importantly, a deception of Ndigbo, who have invested everything they have since the return to democratic governance.” He went on to say.

“In PDP, the rotation and zoning principle was engrained in the party’s constitution in 2009,” Ibem said of the party’s decision to change the zoning arrangement and give its ticket to any zone.

“In accordance with the principles of equity, justice, and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of the party and public elective offices, and it shall be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels,” according to Article 7 (2) (c) of the PDP constitution.

“In the spirit of equity, fairness, rotation, and zoning, which has been the practice since the return to democracy in 1999, power must move south, specifically to the south east.

“The other five geopolitical zones should be supportive of us because they have benefited from our unwavering support for so long. That’s all there is to it.” As noted by Ibem.