Senator Anthony Adefuye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday said it is the turn of the South-West to produce the President of Nigeria in 2023 as the only region that is yet to do so since the return of democratic governance to the country in 1999.
Speaking in an interview with INDEPENDENT, Adefuye said those clamouring for the Presidency to go to the South-East are wrong as the region produced former President Olusegun Obasanjo who was in power from 1999 to 2007.
According to him, Obasanjo is an Igbo man because his father hailed from Anambra state while his mother is a Yoruba woman.
He added that while in office Obasanjo concentrated most of his efforts towards developing the South-East, including appointing five Ministers as well as the Central Bank Governor from the region while he completely abandoned the South-West.
He said: “I believe that in 2023, the APC will zone the Presidential ticket to the South. When it comes to the South, then it will be narrowed down to the South West because that is the only region that has not produced the President since 1999. It has always been the North and the Igbos".
“Some people may argue that what about Obasanjo? Obasanjo is not a Yoruba man. He is an Igbo man from the South-East. His father is from Anambra while his mother is a Yoruba woman. And that was why during his tenure, he completely ignored the South West. For example, throughout his eight years, he did nothing on the Lagos- Ibadan expressway.
“But he did a lot for his people in the South-East. He picked five Ministers from there and even appointed the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from Anambra where his father comes from.
“So, it is right for the South-West to demand for the Presidency in 2023. What we should be doing now is working towards 2023 to ensure that the Presidency comes to the Southwest. The Southwest has never produced the President before,” he said.
Source : Daily Independent