Ohanaeze Ndigbo has frowned at the statement credited to a nephew to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mamman Daura, on 2023 presidency.
Daura was quoted to have on Tuesday in a brief interview with the BBC, Hausa Service, said that 2023 presidency should not be based on turn by turn, but on competence.
But in a response on Wednesday by Chief Emeka Attamah, the media aide to the President General of Ohanaeze, Chief Nnia Nwodo, the Igbo group wondered why Daura did not make similar comment before the 2019 presidential poll, where it was generally accepted that the North should stay in power for another four years.
The group also recalled how the North, on the grounds that it was their turn to produce the president of the country ensured that former President Goodluck Jonathan was voted out and Buhari voted in.
He said, “All we know is that it is the turn of the south where we have abundant competent individuals who can steer the ship of this country, particularly among Ndigbo.
“Now that it is the turn of the South they don’t see it in that context anymore.
READ ALSO: Mamman Daura breaks silence on dictating for Buhari
“The statement by Mamman Daura is, to say the least, selfserving. He should’ve said this before the 2019 elections.
“They ganged up to push President Jonathan aside because they believed it was the turn of the North to produce the President.
”Having benefited enormously from his nephew being the President, he now wants it jettisoned because it is the turn of the South.
“Talking about competence or most qualified, was President Buhari the most qualified Nigerian when he ascended the presidency ? Has he proved to be the most competent ?
”Are the service chiefs the most competent among their colleagues to warrant their being retained beyond their tenure ? Now that it is the turn of the South, precisely South East, he is mouthing most qualified and competent.
”Equity is a constant flagship for peace and good governance. Without it, there will be continued agitation and crisis.
”At his age, Mamman Daura should stand for equity and fairness. Moreover, his stand goes against the grain of the nation’s constitution which enshrines equality for all peoples and sections of the country,” the statement read.
Opinions