A founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum, (ACF), and elder statesman, Alh. Tanko Yakasai, says the secessionist agitation by the embattled leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, weakens the chances of the Igbo people to produce a credible presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections.
According to the 96-yr-old statesman, who spoke in an interview on a television programme yesterday, the South-East geo-political zone must convince Nigerians beyond any reasonable doubt that it is ready to occupy the exalted office in 2023.
Recall that Kanu, who is in the custody of the Department of States Services (DSS), is facing terrorism-related charges before Justice Binta Nyako of a Federal High Court in Abuja. He and his group had listed alleged marginalisation of the Igbo people in governance, insecurity, as part of the reasons for his agitation.
Speaking during the interview, Yakasai said the Igbo people must not sit back and demand that the next Presidency be zoned to them.
His words: “The card is on the South-eastern people’s desk; it is up to them to try to reach out. I’m a strong supporter of a President from the South after Buhari and also, if he can come from the South-East, I have no problem.
“My quarrel is that this is not something you just stay at home and pray that people will just dash it to you; you have to show interest, you have to be serious, you have to try to convince people that you are really up to the task. This is what in my opinion is missing from the South-East.
“There is that desire on their part; but they are not exact in their position to manifest that desire to convince people that are rarely serious about it.
“There is this anxiety in Nigeria about the position of the South-East, because it is surprising to many people including people like me.
“This Nnamdi Kanu, who ordinarily, to me, would not be a good candidate for the governorship of any of the South-Eastern States, is now claiming the attention (and) support of prominent people in the South-East, is making people doubt if the South-East is really ready to produce a credible candidate that would help Nigeria as a whole. That doubt is there”, he stated.
