By Akinwale Kasali
As if waiting for somebody to declare before summoning the courage to do same, Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, says he will jostle for the Presidential seat, come 2023, with other aspirants under the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
His declaration came 24 hours after former Lagos State Governor and APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu, declared, after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari that he would run for the Presidential seat in 2023 to fulfil his lifetime ambition.
Making his intention known on Tuesday, January 11 2022, at the Presidential Villa, Aso Rock, Abuja, after a closed door meeting with Buhari, where he informed him of his intention, Umahi informed Nigerians of his aspiration.
In a chat with State House Corredpondents Governor Umahi said he had informed the President of his political ambition during their meeting.
“We discussed politics as well as the growth of our party, APC, in Nigeria and South East; and, of course, you know, the interest of South-East for the seat of presidency in 2023.
“Of course I told Mr President that, without prejudice to whatever will be the decision of the party which we shall abide by, if the party throws the ticket open or zones it to Southern part of Nigeria, that I believe, with what I have put in place in the past six years plus, that I’ll be running for presidency on the platform of APC.
“So, I told him, and of course, he believes that whoever wants to run for President of this country must have to consult widely, go to all the leaders.
And that we must do everything to remove ethnicity and religion in our politics so that this country can grow.”
Umahi said he was on the verge of making wider consultations with stakeholders across the country regarding his ambition, but said he deemed it fit and honourable to first hold a meeting with the President to inform him.
“I wouldn’t have done that without first coming to clear with Mr President that there is this feeling in South-East that has not been President and that people feel that those of our leaders in the various political parties should indicate interest to contest.
“And this is fair, this is important. But at the end of the day, it is God Almighty and the political parties that will also decide.”
When asked whether he had consulted with the Pan-Igbo Socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Nd’Igbo about his ambition and if he had received their blessing, he said the Ohaneze leadership should not play politics.
“Yes, they can speak for the interest of the South-East, they can speak for fair treatment to South-East people as a matter of equity, justice and fairness, leaving a level-playing-field for all the political parties and the aspirants.
“They should not dabble into politics on who to support or who not to support.”
Umahi said the Igbo socio-cultural group as well as other relevant organisations will be informed of his ambition in 2023.
The Governor also advocated for what he described as political solution to the raging insecurity in the South-East.
“Let me, also, add that,as the Chairman of South-East Governors’ Forum, I support a political solution to our insecurity problems in South-East; and of course, I mentioned it to Mr President.
“You see, political solution does not terminate the judicial process.
“And if you know, Mr President very well, he has always said, and has always demonstrated that he wouldn’t interfere with any judicial process; everybody knows him for that.
“If agreement is reached between parties, you don’t expect Mr President to be the negotiator; there are a lot of Federal Government officials.
“So, I believe strongly that as South-East is proposing for political solution, they should be able to engage the Federal Government.
“Afterall, there’s always what is called ‘out-of-court settlement’, but it is for our people and our brother(Nnamdi) Kanu to be willing for us to truly engage so that we can find true peace in our region.
“Because, the activities there have destroyed a lot of the economy of South-east, a lot of lives have been lost and (even) when we were shouting that it wasn’t going to benefit us, because agitation shouldn’t have gone the way it did.
“Today, the matter has gone beyond (IPOB). You know, every criminal, kidnapper, armed robber tends to claim IPOB, and IPOB in turn is fighting them, but I think it is late.
“So we desire peace, we desire to save the lives of our people and, so, we are willing to engage, to see that we have, you know, an amicable settlement, rebuild the economy of South-East.”
He disclosed that he used the opportunity of the meeting to invite President Buhari to visit his State to inaugurate some landmark projects executed by his administration.
