Igbo leaders have said they would not seek the presidency in 2023 contrary to the thinking that President Muhammadu Buhari should be allowed a shot at second term in 2019 for the South East to replace him thereafter.
The position was made known by the Igbo Leaders of Thought, an umbrella of Igbo statesmen intelligentsia led by Prof. Ben Nwabueze, on Saturday after two days of meeting in Enugu, the Enugu State capital.
The ILT said what would be more beneficial to the Igbo race and indeed all Nigerians is a restructured country, where the presidency would become less attractive and no longer an instrument for ethnic jingoism.
The group also warned that the country is close to being equated with a failed state given the level of insecurity with attendant killings across states.
Speaking with newsmen on Saturday, the Deputy Chairman of the ILT, Prof. Chiweyete Ejike, and the Secretary General, Prof. Elochukwu Amucheazi, justified the position of the group.
Ejike said: “Igbos are not concerned about Presidency.
“We are concerned about restructuring.
“We want a fair and equitable polity.
“There is the issue of use of fund not appropriate by the National Assembly.
“It is not lawful and we are opposed to that.
“The selective application of war against corruption is not in order.
“The case of (former Head of the Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed) Maina is a clear example.
“Budgeting public fund for private ranching is corruption and a government that is fighting corruption is doing all these.
“On the issue of killings, we feel that enough is not being done to stop the scandalous situation and the government should do more in the interest of the nationalities for existential threat.
“There was no legislative reason to prescribe the Indigenous People of Biafra.
“The federal government should de-proscribe it because they have right to self-determination.”
