2023: More Igbo aspirants win presidential tickets.
3 min read
The way 2023 presidential election is moving, it appears that the Igbo ethnic group is out to secure the position of the chief occupant of Aso Rock, the Federal Government’s seat of power in Abuja. Just as the Independent National Electoral Commission announced the deadline for political parties to close their primaries, the political parties that had not done their primaries made a big rush and held their primaries to beat the INEC deadline.
Umuaka Times gathered that all the political parties that had Igbo interests have their presidential candidates of Igbo extraction respectively. First was Labour Party which had Peter Obi who perhaps, is “the beautiful bride” of Aso Rock, the choice of the youths and the best man for the job for all Nigerians who want positive changes reflected across the country. From the day Obi left the PDP and joined Labour Party, many prominent Nigerians and youth politicians followed him to the party thereby turning the dying Labour Party into the third force Nigerians have been asking for. Several individuals, captains of industry, labour unions as well as Diasporan Nigerians have all identified with Obi and are ready to donate to his campaign fund.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA was one of the political parties that held its presidential primaries last week and elected Prof. Peter Umeadi as its presidential flag bearer. Professor Umeadi who is a former Chief Justice of Anambra State and a renowned legal luminary emerged unopposed by the national delegates of the party. Victor Oye, the national chairman of APGA while declaring Umeadi the winner of the primaries told party members how strong APGA is. “Our party does not engage in frivolities or political grandstanding. We say what we will do. Our party will win more than 20 senatorial seats in the next general election.”
Zenith Labour Party ZLP, was another political party that held its primaries last week and yet another Igbo man, Dan Nwanyanwu emerged as the presidential flag bearer. Nwanyanwu, an Imo State born politician was formally the national chairman of the party. The emergence of Nwanyanwu as the presidential flag bearer of the party almost coincided with the change of name of the party from Zenith Labour Party to Zenith Progressives Alliance (ZPA).
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, a political party that was made popular in 2019 by a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu also held its primaries last week and elected Dumebi Kachikwu, an Igbo man from Delta State to fly its presidential flag in 2023. According to reports Umuaka Times gathered, Kachikwu, is a media entrepreneur and also a younger brother to the former Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwe. From the results released by the party, Kachikwe polled 977 votes to beat the former CBN strongman who scored 589 votes and came second to Kachikwe. The 48 year old entrepreneur turned politician is the founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Roots TV.
On the night the primaries were held, Moghalu was reported to have issued a press statement where he described the outcome of the process as highly disappointing. For now, the political future of Moghalu is unpredictable as nobody knows his next move on the chess board of Nigerian politics.
There are about 5 presidential candidates of Igbo extraction running to be elected the president of Nigeria in five different political parties. Many have seen such a move as an act which deepens democracy among the Igbo ethnic group while others have seen it as having the dangerous characteristic of creating reductions in the number of votes Obi would score in the forthcoming election. At the first time, Labour Party had about three presidential candidates until last week when INEC announced that the Obi faction is the faction that has secured its blessings and recognition. After this announcement by INEC, the other presidential “candidates” of the party disappeared overnight.
Obi’s popularity has continued to soar high across the country and beyond. Some people have also predicted that the presidential election of next year would be between Obi and Atiku of PDP. Whatever permutations political analysts may come up with, it is only time that will tell for Obi, Atiku, Tinubu and the rest of other candidates and Nigerians in general.
