- Unveil 40 million ‘ballot movement’ for 2023 South East presidency
Apex Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, together with Middle Belt Forum, Pan Niger Delta Forum, Igbo World Assembly, the Tiv Nation and The Youth Off the Street Initiative (YOTSI), among other groups yesterday joined the growing campaign that Nigeria should have president of South East extraction in 2023.
They launched a 40 million youth-driven ballot movement to move the 2023 presidency in favour of the South East.
The groups also unveiled the Power Shift Movement (PSM) to strengthen the quest for all political parties to cede the president of the country to the South and urged the South East region to show seriousness for the contest, before other interested zones seize the opportunity.
Also they canvassed restructuring of the country before the 2023 general election in order to guarantee its continued co-existence as one country.
They declared their position at the launch of Power Shift Movement and Forty Million Ballots Movement in Awka, Anambra State, which was hosted by the President of Youths Off the Street Initiative, Kennedy Iyere.
Acting Afenifere National Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who was represented by the association’s Secretary-General, Chief Sola Ebiseni, declared the group’ support for the emergence of Nigeria’s next President from the South East.
He said Afenifere supports the idea of a president of South East extraction for the sake of equity, fairness and national cohesion.
According to him: “Southern presidency is a means to an end. It is not something to celebrate because even if we have a Southern president, you cannot have one more powerful than Obasanjo and nothing is being done. The fundamental thing is restructuring. But in the meantime, let those who have not tasted it, let them have it.”
Adebanjo said that the Yoruba nation was not happy that the Igbo people are not coming out to declare their interest for the position even when people of Southern Nigeria have declared support for them.
He said: “We hear people from the South-West want to be president, and even in the North which we have said has had enough for now; they want to be president. I have not seen men from the South-East come out and say that they want to be president. It is not a matter of newspapers or reeling out statistics. It is a question of let us see these men. If you don’t take your destiny in your hand politically, it will continue to be statistics on the pages of the newspaper.”
On restructuring, he stated that: “Nigeria must be restructured between now and the 2023 election. This country cannot afford to be run as a unitary state when we are actually a federal state.
“Restructuring, from our own point of view, is to invent or recreate the constitution or the fundamental covenant of our existence which we were when Awolowo on one side, Zik on one side and Ahmadu Bello on one side, came together. Nigeria was by negotiation and restructuring must continue. If you eat and I don’t eat, there can never be peace.
“So, our position is that towards 2023, let our leaders be realistic enough to ensure that the Nigerian state is restructured. The 1999 constitution is dangerously skewed against the Igbo man.”
Leader of the Tiv, Chief Iorbee Ihagh, said his people have agreed that the presidency should go to South-East in particular.
He, however, said that if the Igbo failed to come out and lead the movement, Tiv people may declare for the post.
The Youth Off the Street Initiative (YOTSI) in collaboration with Afenifere, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Mdzough (U-Tiv), Middle Belt Forum (MBF) and the Igbo World Assembly (IWA), among others, yesterday, launched a 40 million youth-driven ballot movement to move the 2023 presidency in favour of the South East.
They also restated the need for true federalism through restructuring, stressing that to achieve unity, it was necessary to achieve good leadership and ethnic balancing in the country.
According to them, for Nigeria to achieve peace, security and good governance, President Muhammadu Buhari should sign the Electoral Law, which would ensure credible elections in 2023 and beyond.
On his part, President of Igbo World Assembly (IWA), Onowu Nwachukwu Anakwenze said: “It is the turn of the South East to produce the next president of the country and we are warning that nobody should hide under insecurity to deny the regiuon of their right.”
Speaking, Convener and President of YOTSI, Kennedy Iyere, said the 40 million ballot is a revolutionary platform driven by the youths to address the issue of the next president of the country, saying there was no hope in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Iyere urged President Buhari to sign the Electoral Bill into law, as a significant legacy project of his administration, warning that whether he signs it or not, the youths would drive the process of ensuring electronic transmission of results in general elections, no matter how long it would take.
