Amid agitation for President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor to come from the southeastern part of the country, a former governor of Imo state, Achike Udenwa, has declared that what the zone needs now is restructuring, not the presidency.
Udenwa made this known in an exclusive interview with The Sun, calling on the Igbo to hold their peace. Reports gathered that he also noted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has not decided on where its presidential candidate would come from.
The former governor maintained that what the Igbo and other ethnic nationalities need at the moment is restructuring more than the presidency, saying that the 2023 elections would be of no effect without restructuring. He said: “It is useless having an election again in this country without first restructuring the country.
What do you want to achieve if you cede the presidency to the Igbo? What do the Igbo want to achieve with the president without restructuring? Let us all insist on restructuring before elections.” Speaking on the recommendation of Governor Bala Mohammed’s committee, Udenwa, who is a member of the PDP Board of Trustee, said the report which said that the party should throw its presidency open has not been accepted.
He further stressed that there are several organs of the party that the report has to go through, adding that in a meeting held last week by the leadership of the party, it was not affirmed that there should be rotation or no rotation.
Udenwa noted: “We have never taken any decision on that. It is just a recommendation; it is not yet a policy of the PDP. What the panel was looking at was the ability and under what condition PDP will be able to win. Is it by zoning or by throwing it open? I’m not too interested in the presidency as at now. I’m talking of restructuring. If we restructure then we can take up who becomes president. In fact, it becomes less material who becomes president. Where he comes from doesn’t matter any longer.
