Dokpesi’s Assumption On Igbo Presidency ‘Weird, Unworthy’, Says Ohanaeze

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Tuesday, berated the chairman of Daar Communications Ltd, Dr Raymond Anthony Dokpesi, for saying no one from the South East stands any chance of becoming the president of Nigeria in 2023.

Dokpesi had in an interview granted to Daily Trust on Saturday, October 9, 2021, stated that, “The southeast cannot win the election for the PDP. That is just the truth of the matter.

“There is no candidate from the southeast, even I dare say there is no candidate from the south, that you put in the north today that will be able to win. It is going to be a humongous challenge.”

Ohanaeze, in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, urged Nigerian leaders to guard their utterances for the sake of justice.

According to him, “Nigeria will remain in crises until the leaders embrace justice, equity and fairness as a guiding philosophy. One can easily understand the psychological ambivalence in the Dokpesi persona. There is no reason for the condescension and disdain he handed over to the entire south.”

Ohanaeze further expressed disappointment over Dokpesi’s comments, considering that he is among the figures in the South-South People Assembly (SSPA) which champions a power shift to the southern part of the country in 2023.

Ogbonnia said, “All the 17 southern governors in their meetings have resolved on the need for a power shift to the south. The Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi committee on zoning has declared that the national chairmanship of the Peoples Democratic Party go to the north while the Presidency should go to the south.

“It is therefore curious the kind of appraisal parametres or the kind of epitaph that Dokpesi wishes to be remembered. In one sentence, Dokpesi proclaimed that, ‘If we are the Nigerians, I want us to be, if we believe in the unity of Nigeria and we also believe in equity, justice, and fairness, there is no reason we should not give it to the southeast if the slot is given to the south’. In another breath, Dokpesi averred that, ‘whoever emerges as the president of Nigeria would have to compensate the people of the southeast if truly we want the emergence of the new Nigeria’.
 
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide is dismayed that Dokpesi could demonstrate this type of duplicity in a matter that is so clearly defined. Dokpesi’s assumptions are unreflective, weird and unworthy. Any person who loves Nigeria should be an advocate of power rotation, especially between the north and the south.”

Ohanaeze therefore commended the southern governors in their resolve for a power shift, adding that, “That is the ideal and surely, a class of northerners with conscience will join the moving train. The rotation of presidency between the north and the south is the truth. Two options are before the advocates of justice and progress in Nigeria: we either choose light or darkness.”