The fate of Igbos in 2023 – Ngige

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige has warned the South-East not to vote against President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 election.

According to Ngige, the Igbos might lose the chance of producing a president come 2023 if they relent in their support the president.

While speaking with reporters in Obosi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State on Sunday, he said Igbos have the chance to assume the presidential seat after Buhari in 2023 if only they do what is right in the 2019 presidential elections.

He said, “This man (Buhari) has only one term (four years) to do and go home, and an Igboman will replace him. But if you leave this shortest route and take a gamble, you are on your own.

“If Igbo refuse to play their cards right in next year’s general elections, the South-West will take away the chance from them.

“They will produce the next president after Buhari, because the zone has shown demonstrable commitment to Buhari’s cause.

“My good friend Babatunde Fashola has blown the whistle. What he said should be a warning signal to the Igbo, because you can’t stop the South-West from producing the next president of the country after supporting Buhari and the APC government.

“That is why I’m telling our people now to come out in mass in next year’s election and vote for Buhari, so that nothing will stop you from succeeding him in 2023.”

He went on to describe the vice-presidential slot given to the Igbo by the Peoples Democratic Party as a “mere spare tyre that might be used for over six years”.

He remarked that the South-East zone has failed in their quest to have one of their own as the leader of the country since the return of democratic rule in 1999.

Stressing that President Buhari’s re-election is the South-East’s shortest route to the presidency.