Nigerian movie legend, Pete Edochie, has weighed in on the presidential aspirations of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, stating that the one-time governor of Lagos is too old to be president.
Edochie, who spoke during a BBC Igbò programme, also highlighted concerns about the apparent political marginalisation of Igbò people.
Replying to a question on Tinubu’s candidacy for the 2023 presidency, Edochia said: “Many people like Tinubu are too old and too weak to run for president. He (Tinubu) has been in power for a long time, until he was made the leader of the APC.
“But he should leave the position for those who are younger and healthier; let’s be honest.”
Edochie also lamented that Nigeria has not had more than one Igbò head of state since the attainment of independence in 1960.
“Igbò, Hausa, and Yorùbá, are the major ethnic groups in Nigeria. Only once in the history of Nigeria has it emerged that an Ìgbò person became the head of state in Nigeria”, he said.
“That was (former military head of state) Aguiyi Ironsi, during the military government and his headship was short-lived. Since then, the North and the Yorùbá have been sharing power between themselves, apart from Goodluck Jonathan, who isn’t even Igbò.”
Tinubu
Edochie, who described Ndigbò as resilient people, said Nigeria needs Ìgbò ingenuity and sound leadership. He also stated that having an Igbò as president will end looting and socio-economic woes, added that Ìgbò can deliver strategic leadership that will transform Nigeria.
“Why has power not returned to the Igbò people? Is there a plot by the political elites to sideline the Southeast? I’ve lived in the north. I speak Hausa. But it’s long overdue for Nigeria to have a leader of Igbò extraction.
“The problem in Nigeria is greed. Leadership is dominated by Northerners, but 60 years after independence, we’ve not ended the electricity problem, when coal-based Oji River supplied power to the whole east before the civil war,” he added.