The Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has highlighted five main requirements for any candidate vying for position of the president from the South-East region.
While the group affirmed that it had no favourite candidate among the presidential aspirants that had already declared interest, it said that politician who wanted to be the president of Nigeria must be a person with high intellect, courage and audacity.
According to The Punch, the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Alex Ogbonnia, revealed these in an interview.
He said, “Such a person must also have political sagacity and national appeal. He must be patriotic and above all, must have a track record of accomplishment.”
On whether the group would invite aspirants from the South-East for a meeting on the need for them to step down for more favourable aspirants to avoid jeopardising the chances of the zone during the primaries, he said it would be done when all interest must have been expressed.
“We want more aspirants to come out first. Assuming we had called for a meeting about four days ago (Sunday), we wouldn’t have seen the likes of Chief David Umahi; we wouldn’t have seen the likes of the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.
“So, let them begin to come out; it will come to a point where we can now decide whom Ndigbo will support,” Ogbonnia said.
He, however, noted that there would be no screening of aspirants as Ohanaeze knew the credentials of every Igbo man of note.
“We already know their credentials. There’s no person in Igboland of note we don’t know of his background. So, they don’t require any screening,” he added.
Speaking on whether there would be a meeting with the two major political parties to discuss the need for them to field their candidates from the South-East, Ogbonnia said, “Yes, we have already done that in several fora and we’ll continue on that.”
Meanwhile, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly Worldwide has urged the South-East to consult widely and build bridges ahead of the 2023 elections.
The group said for the Igbo to have any stake in the Nigerian project in the coming elections, they should stop threatening other tribes and regions in the country.