Uche Okwukwu, the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has ruffled feathers as he has said that the people of the South-East have just played themselves out of the 2023 Presidency by failing to vote for the All Progressives Congress in the 2019 general elections.

Okwukwu said that he was in support of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who had stated that the Igbo had by an act of omission or commission made it impossible for them to attain the position of the Presidency in the next four years.

He had made his position known in a statement which was made available to journalists in the Rivers State Capital, Port Harcourt, on Monday.

He further described the assertion by the Minister of Transportation as true, sayimng in addition that the Igbo denied President Muhammadu Buhari a presence in the South-East by failing to vote for him (Buhari).

He said, “Amaechi’s statement is correct because they betrayed him; they betrayed Ndigbo. You must have followed the event leading to the confusion, where a socio-cultural organisation adopted President Muhammadu Buhari without affording Amaechi the opportunity of participating in the meeting of Ndigbo.

“Amaechi is an Igbo man. He has openly said he is Igbo. So, why would you deny him the opportunity of participating in the meeting that purportedly endorsed Buhari and then you denied him the opportunity of presenting his own bulk to the Igbo.

“Of course, whether we agree or not, politics is reality. By not voting for Buhari and denying him any presence in Igboland, we have to a large extent, by omission or commission, shut ourselves out of the presidency in 2023.

“Even if you go to the convention of the APC, Igbo cannot win the primary in the APC. This is because they don’t have any senator, no governor, nobody in the APC. So, how will they win the primary? It is a sad thing, but it is the reality on the ground.

“Amaechi’s predictable assertion to the effect that Ndigbo had by an act of omission or commission shut themselves out of the presidency come 2023 is nothing but the truth.”

(The Punch)

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