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The Equity Group, a combination of 45 political parties on Thursday called on the South–East and politicians of Igbo extraction to work together to produce the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, come 2023.
        The National Chairman of the group, Mr Okey Chikwendu, made the call at a news conference in Abuja. According to him, the total exclusion of Ndigbo from national leadership equation has become matter of grave concern to well-meaning Nigerians. Chikwendu said the Igbo deserve visionary treatment and should be given space to produce the next president. According to him, a president of Igbo extraction will work assiduously towards genuine national unity given their spread and investment in all the nooks and crannies of the country. Historically and geographically, Nigeria sits on a tripod namely: North, East and West. Under both variants of civilian/democracy and military government regimes that have ruled in the post independence Nigeria (since 1960), Ndigbo of the present South-East Geo-Political Zone have literally been “political on-lookers’’. The apparent total exclusion of Ndigbo, an important part of the national tripod from the national leadership equation, has become quite a troubling matter of grave concern to well-meaning Nigerians,” he said.
Chikwendu called on all patriotic and well-meaning Nigerians to support and partner the Igbo on this cause, come 2023.
        In the same vein, one of the National Leaders of Equity Group, Mr Frank Igwebuike, stressed that to promote equity, justice and fairness it was the turn of an Igbo man to take over the mantle of power as the president comes 2023. He said, “it is not within the power of the incumbent president to hand over power to anybody, it is the turn of the Igbo man to become the president putting into consideration many variables. We are calling on Nigerians to have a rethink. We must talk of the real unity in diversity,” he said. Another leader of the group, Mr Godson Okoye, also stressed the readiness of the Igbo to take over the mantle of leadership by the end of the present administration. There is no disunity in the Igbo as perceived in some quarters; this must be achieved for us to say there is unity, equity, justice and peace in this country,” he stressed. (NAN)