PETER Obi, former vice presidential candidate, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2019 has revealed what will determine if he will be in the race in 2023 when the Igbos are asking for a president of South East extraction from Nigeria.
According to Obi, who was also the former governor of Anambra State for eight years, his 2023 presidential ambition depends on the party’s decision.
“It is left for the party to decide. The party will decide. I am a party person,” he told Realnews in an exclusive interview when asked if he will contest the presidential election.
On the clamour for a Nigerian president from South East in 2023, Obi explained that the only reason Igbos have been clamouring for it is because they have been marginalized.
He said, “We have seen a sense of being marginalized. Everything is being done to make us feel we are not part of it. We are saying, since we are part of this, we will be in it.
“The other zones one way or the other have had a feeling of being in this (Presidency)
whether during the military or now. You know, somebody can say it has not been from the North Central, but you can see that during the military, it was from the North Central that served for a long time,” as the military heads of state in Nigeria.
“There might be others who are feeling they have not been part of it. It is necessary for Nigerians to come together “to see how we can accommodate those who have not had the chance at all. It is now a DNA issue,” he said.
Answering questions on whether Igbos will get the presidency, Obi wished that the country should be restructured first to make it workable and effective for the nation to grow and develop.
“What Igbos requires now is for the whole place to be restructured now and make it work more.
“Let’s make the place work and it can work. And even those who are now agitating against restructuring will benefit more. I can tell you, and you can quote me anywhere, I can see a brighter future for them than those who are even clamouring for it,” he said.
Also, Obi enjoined Nigerian leaders to reflect and sacrifice for the country. “The country has tremendous opportunity if the leaders can walk the talk. It is time to do that,” he said.
