Doyin Okupe, a former spokesman of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, on Saturday said the Igbo presidency would not be a reality unless the northerm region forgives the Igbo people over the assassination of the Sardauna of Sokoto Ahmadu Bello.
Bello was murdered on January 15, 1966, by Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu an Igbo Nigerian Army officer in a coup which toppled Nigeria’s post-independence government. Bello was still serving as premier of Northern Nigeria at the time.
Mr Okupe waded in on the conversation of Igbo presidency in a tweet, saying: “A national consensus for Igbo Presidency cannot evolve until the core north forgives the Igbos for the killing of Sardauna of Sokoto by nigerian soldiers of igbo extraction in the 1966 Coup.”
Also assassinated in the coup was Bello’s long time friend Abubakar Tafawa Balewa alongside many political elites in the north and in the west.
However, Okupe said he was ready to shelve his presidential ambition if a consensus for Igbo presidency is reached by his party the Peoples Democratic Party.
He said: “If this consensus emerges, in the interest of equity, fairness & national unity, I will shelve my ambition & support whoever is chosen as a candidate by my party.
“However, in the event that this national consensus is not achievabe, I WILL RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2023 by God’s Grace.”
