A non-governmental, non-partisan organization, South East for President, (SEFORP) has called on political parties in Nigeria to respect the Federal Character Act and zoning principles as enshrined in the Constitutions and zone their Presidential tickets to the South-East zone of the country.
In a press conference in Enugu on Wednesday, the National Coordinator of SEFORP, Rev. Okechukwu Christopher, gave the political parties 30 days within which to implement zoning or it will take legal action compelling all the registered political parties to zone their Presidential ticket to the South-East zone.
“We have observed some ongoing subterranean manoeuvrings in the political parties to short change the South East in the presidential contest in 2023.
“We wish to make it abundantly clear that any arrangement, be it at political stakeholders or political party levels, which denies the South East of presidential slot in 2023 will be resisted by every possible legal means,” Rev. Christopher said.
SEFORP however, charge South-East zone (Igbo) politicians to impress it on the leadership of their various political parties to zone their Presidential ticket to the South-East zone.
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“We wish to specifically advise the PDP to jettison the illogical argument of it seeking to zone its presidential ticket to the North in 2023, on the basis that has produced two Presidents from the South with a cumulative tenure of about 14 years and a President from the North with a short-lived tenure of about two and half years.
“The ultimate benefits of zoning are for the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Once a zone has taken its turn. it is only natural for another zone to take the position in the next round of the presidential election.” Christopher said.
SEFORP, therefore, called on all Nigerians of good conscience to rally support for the South-East zone for the sake of equity. justice and fairness.
“The political actors especially should embrace practices which will unite the country and not those that will further widen the gulf of division. We all need to consciously work for the peace and unity of this country,” SEFORP said.
The Igbo Leadership-Development Foundation (ILDF) has been consistent advocacy for the emergence of a Nigerian President from the South East 2one in 2023.
Zainab Sa’id
