Chief Bartho Igwedibia, National Leader, Ndigbo United Peoples Assembly (NUPA) says Nigeria needs a president with wealth of knowledge to revive the economy and check growing insecurity across the country in 2023.
Igwedibia made the statement at a news conference by NUPA, a pressure group spread across the South-East geo-political zone, on Thursday in Awka.He said though his group was pushing for Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in the next year’s election, the clamour had a serious caveat.“Yes we are calling on other geo-political zones and political parties to cede the 2023 presidential position to the South-East zone because that is both fair and equity in our national discourse.“NUPA is at the same time asking the presidential aspirants and the elites from the South-East to put their house in order.“
They should try and produce a person who has the intellectual capacity to put Nigeria’s economy on the path of sustainable growth and end the growing insecurity problems across the country,” he said.Igwedibia who condemned the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms at cut-throat rate, noted that the development was a confirmation that individuals who served governments were now richer than government.
He suggested that political parties collecting the jumbo amounts for forms should assist the Federal Government to resolve the lingering dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).“Our children in the federal universities are at home for almost six months running due to issues bordering on poor financing of schools and government is saying no money, yet individuals are buying forms for N50 million and N100 million.“I advise government to organise fund raising where these politicians now richer than government as well as political parties collecting unthinkable sum for forms could help raise money to tackle the dispute between ASUU and Federal Government,” he said.Igwedibia further stressed the need for people, especially Ndigbo yet to obtain Permanent Voters’ Card of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do so.He said with the introduction of electronic transmission of results by INEC, obtaining the card could make clear difference in 2023 general elections.(NAN)
