A political support group, the Patriots for Ogbonnaya Onu, has asked the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, all serving and past governors in the All Progressives Congress (APC) to drop the ambition to contest the 2023 presidential election and support the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ognonnaya Onu, to emerge as Nigeria’s next leader come 2023.
Onu, a former governor of Old Abia state, is set to formally declare, on Friday, his intention to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari..
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the group led by Prof. Hakeem Fawehinmi, said it was in the interest of equity, justice, fairness, national cohesion and stability. .
He explained that stepping down and supporting Onu would not only save the APC and Nigeria but also ensure that the separatist agitations by the people of the South-East region were permanently rested.
According to the group, the country of today was in a precarious situation, and it was at times like this that positive history is made by men and women who subjugate their personal interests for national cohesion.
It said the reasonable implication is that after eight years of the rule of President Muhammadu Buhari, the power should rotate to the South, particularly the Southeast which has never had a shot at the presidency.
The group noted that if the APC conceded its ticket to the South-East by making Onu its standard-bearer, it would be sending a message that would drown the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Prof. Fawehinmi said, “Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, VP Yemi Osinbajo, Governor Kayode Fayemi and others are eminently qualified to be the president of Nigeria, but Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, in our opinion is the most qualified.
“Moreover, we think that it is the time for the Southeast to produce Nigeria’s next leader. In the eyes of natural justice and equity and for the reason of fairness, national cohesion and stability, it is the turn of the Southeast that constitutes about a quarter of the country’s population.
“We cannot have a stable society when about a quarter of your population are nursing a feeling of discontentment. Egalitarianism cannot be fostered when a major segment of society is nursing a feeling of discontentment. One’s election will assuage a feeling of real or perceived marginalisation among the Ndigbo.
“So, we urge the APC to put its best foot forward. Other candidates should step down and forge a common front with Dr Ogbonnaya Onu so that APC will retain its power post-2023 and defeat the PDP.
“A multicultural society like Nigeria requires a nationalistic leader and technocrats like Dr Ogbonnaya Onu that can be trusted with its unity and treasury and can provide transformational leadership devoid of sentiments and rancour.”
Source: Vanguard Media
