2019: Instead of taking Igbo for granted, they should allow them to go - Amechi

- First republic minister, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, said the Igbos should be allowed to go instead of taking them for granted

- He said this in reaction to the statement that Igbo’s future will be determined by Buhari’s re-election in 2019

- He added that President Buhari should not seek re-election because of his age and other factors

First republic minister, Chief Mbazulike Amechi said on Wednesday, July 4, that it was a pity that Nigerian presidency should be associated with ethnicity and religion.

Reacting to the presidency’s statement during the southeast rally of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Owerri, Imo state, that Igbos’ political future rests on President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election, Amechi said the ideal thing in a civilized society should be that the best candidate should emerge from elections, Vanguard reports.

He said the situation in Nigeria is unfortunately different.

Amechi observed that the North had produced most of the country’s presidents, yet they were insisting on producing the next one in 2019, adding that using it to entice Igbo people might actually not work.

While stating that President Buhari had the constitutional right to seek re-election, he said he, as an individual, would not want the president to occupy the position beyond 2019 in view of his age and health, as well as his alleged poor performance and the fact that he had proved to be a dictator.

He said: “I know they (Northerners) do not mean what they said concerning the Igbo presidency. Even though it looks certain that a northerner would become the next president, such a president should not take Igbo for granted as it is at present.

“Instead of taking Igbo for granted, they should allow Igbo to go, even though I do not support any breakaway. I love Nigeria and that was why I fought for her independence and even went to prison, although all that I did are not appreciated by successive Nigerian governments.”

According to him, Buhari’s performance in the last three years was filled with feudalistic tendencies, which only succeeded in breeding disharmony among Nigerians.

“He is the one behind the herdsmen menace in many parts of the country; otherwise he would have done something to stop the incessant killings. My belief is that the whole idea was to spread Islam,” he said.

He also said that the refusal of the Buhari administration to give Nigerians a new and workable constitution showed that he still had the military mentality, despite the fact that more than 80% of Nigerians wanted the country to be restructured.

NAIJ.com previously reported that members of an Igbo socio-political group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the Igboezue International Association Nigeria and the Diaspora (IIAND) disagreed with President Muhammadu Buhari's statement that the political future of Igbos depends on his reelection in 2019.

President Buhari made the statement at a mega rally of the APC in Imo state, through his representatives, Boss Mustapha.

Mustapha had said: “2019 is an election that will make or mar the chances of Igbo in Nigeria. I want Igbo to make a paradigm shift.”

Ohanaeze Ndigbo through its spokesperson, Chuks Ibegbu, however, disagreed with the president's statement.