 It's still plus politics. Now the Igbo Leaders and Elders Consultative Forum, better known as the EMEOB, or Hanez-in-Dibu, have warned that any attempt by the all-progressive Congress APC and the People's Democratic Party PDP to deny the Southeast region of their 2023 presidential ticket will spell doom for Nigeria's corporate existence. Now in the same vein, the movement for the actualization of sovereign state of Biafra, Mossad, called on President Mohammad Bahari to facilitate and ensure the emergence of a president of Igbo extraction in the 2023 general elections. The group emphasized that the emergence of such a president would help the country diffuse many bottled anger, which has fueled agitations. We're joining us to discuss this, our political analyst, Francis Chilaka, and our Chike Chude. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Great. Thank you for inviting me. Yeah. Let me start by asking a question that bothers me when people say to the president, make sure that you have a ticket from the Southeast. I have no problems with a Southeast and president or an Igbo president, but why should that be Mr. President's problem? I'm going to start with you, Francis. You know, you need to understand the dynamics of Nigerian politics and how it plays out and how we've come to believe that the incumbent, whoever the incumbent is as Mr. President, has what it takes, has the magic wand to decide who becomes the next president. And usually this is done by the parties adopting, in each of their parties, adopting a particular candidate that they know that the Mr. President will support, you know, but having said that, you know, having said that, I would say to the core Igbo's, the Southeast, we're looking for a president of the Southeast region. We need to put our house in order. It's one thing for Mossad and any other group to say, well, we want the presidency, but you need to do the homework. You need to do the work. You need to reach out. You need to shake hands across the night to embrace everybody, you know. So the Southeast needs to decide what they really want. You know, do they want a referendum? Do they want to succeed? Or do they want the presidency? You kind of want everything at the same time. And you kind of have different groups speaking for the Southeast at the same time. If the Southeast leaders are serious and ready for this presidency, then they should put their house in order. They should be able to, by now, know the number of people from the Southeast that are going to participate in the election and ensure that they do everything possible to have one formidable candidate from each of the parties to put forward. I wonder from what you're saying, does it mean that the Igbo's are not necessarily ready? Does it mean that the Southeast is just, they're just voicing the want or the need for an Igbo president, but then they've not done their homework? Because this is what I'm picking from what you're saying, that they need to put their house in order. If this is something that has been on the lips of every person in the Southeast, especially the fact that they're talking about, oh, we're being marginalized, we're being given the short end of the stick, should that not have made the Southeast look within and be prepared long enough for a time like this? Because I'm, again, saying this is what I'm picking from what you just said. Maybe I'm wrong. How much control do the Southeast have in the two major political parties? That's where let's start from there. What is the control? What percentage of control do they have? Okay, agreed, yes. PDP and ABC will, the two major parties, they have a zoning formula, which they have been applying since the democratic dispensation came into play. But then, what we've seen playing out today is like a dysfunction of the entire system. All of a sudden everybody's saying, oh, we don't believe in zoning. We don't want to follow zoning anymore. So something is definitely wrong in the structure of these two political parties. And this is where the Igbo leaders need to go to first and resolve issues. Why is it that they're not saying they don't want to do zoning? What is the problem? So you can't tell me that, you know, we can blame Mr. President for everything, but we can't be blaming Mr. President when the political parties themselves are not doing the right thing. So the Igbo leaders that are in these parties should come up and tell us what the problems are. Why is it that suddenly PDP is not zoning, is a presidency ticket to the Southeast? What is wrong? Why is ABC not doing the same thing? So these are pertinent questions that need to be asked and resolved, which we expect that Igbo leaders should be in the forefront. I would tell you that I'm very happy with one of them, Mr. Ikebe, who has gone to court to challenge the PDP for not following the zoning formula. And for him and for every other person in the PDP that is from the Southeast, we feel that there is an injustice being laid out there. So this is what we expect a lot of them to do. I'm not to just waste time on social media, on the print media and electronic media, saying, Mr. President, we want this. This is the kind of thing I want them to be doing. They need to challenge the status quo to ensure that, yes, the two parties follow the zoning formula they have set before now. Ikebe, what do you think the problem lies? Is it with the political parties or is it with the people? Is it with the following within the party? He's just made a case that someone has taken a certain political party to court. But here we are in the midst of an agitation for a Southeast presidential ticket. A very senior politician from the Southeast, Waziriki, has thrown his weight behind an orphaner who's also running for presidency. And for some, this is a dampener on the agitation. But I want to ask you, as someone who's from the Southeast and someone who has seen elections come and go, what do you think the problem lies in this South Eastern bead for presidency? Well, I don't know how many troops Waziriki has. He used to have quite a number. He doesn't have them anymore. So Waziriki is not as important, as prominent as he used to be in the days of Masao. But apart from that, his organization, Masao, has come out solidly to back the Southeast presidency. And then, well, beyond that, again, is the fact that he votes are beginning to come out. The Southeasterners are beginning to come out to speak with one voice. And I think they have made a lot of strides in that direction. I mean, it's not just beyond the Southeasterners. There are organizations like a Fenifere, then you have the leader of Pandem, Edwin Clark, also, you know, all clamoring for a Southeastern president. So the agitation has actually gone beyond the Southeast, the agitation for Southeast presidents. And then even in the Southwest, of course, Fenifere is from the Southwest, and the Mino Bed also have that agitation also for a Southeastern president. So it is not as dire. I mean, it's not as bleak as it was, because they are beginning to coalesce. Even all the presidential candidates of both the, you know, as parents of both the PDP and the APC are speaking now with one voice that has to be the Southeastern president. Now, we know, I mean, the nature of it. So I agree with Mr. Chila Kade that we also need to do, the Southeasterners need to do as much as they can. They need to reach out. And because, you see, it is part of power is never given, power is taken. You know, but it depends on how power is taking. So they are just, you know, two things I would say that will regards to that. First of all, is the fact that from 1990 date, you know, what we have been seeing in this country has been a justification of the biblical injunction, you know, that, that, well, about, you know, the same, the same power that the kingdom of God suffered and the violence taken by force. Unfortunately, that is what we have been seeing in Nigeria. The presidency going to the south-south because of the agitation in the, in the Niger Delta. The presidency going to the south-west because of the debt of Ebola and the crisis that generated, you know, and then of course, the, the, the, the threat by some members of the APC about the presidency of this country, even though they did not get it after Jonathan's first term. You know, and the fact that we are told by a chieftain of the APC that they actually brought in the scenarios for the purpose of causing trouble if the APC did not get the presidency. So you now have agitation in the south-east too. And the reality, and just like the south-east and eastern leaders are saying, what is going on in the south-east, the violence, you know, and the unfortunate destruction of, you know, to lives and properties in the south-east cannot be contained by the military. And we have seen that, you know. So, so we have seen the military make up kinds of incursions into the south-east and we have seen how these elements, dangerous elements, I would call them because, you know, I don't think any reasonable person would be happy when the bloodshed that is happening in the south-east, whether it is coming from, you know, state actors, the soldiers or whether it is coming from non-state actors, whether it is the CSES or rogue or renegade organizations operating in the south-east. But there is a clear warning that perhaps one way of bringing down the tension in the south-east and bringing peace in the south-east is the issue of the presidency because any other president, you know, we have to continue with acts of violence against the people of the south-east and it will backfire. But, you know, once you have a south-easterner as president of this country, it becomes very difficult for every south-easterner to continue the violence because that will be resisted by the people of the south-east because they have a candidate, I mean, a president in Asorok and so that makes it difficult for them to continue their agitation. So if our policy is going on, it's unfortunate that we've gotten to a level where any group of people want the presidency or they feel that the presidency should go to them, you know, they resort to acts of violence to intimidate the politics. But that is where we have found ourselves and then the issue of zoning, it is very clear that if zoning is not implemented, it is going to be a disservice to the people of the south-east and an injustice, a gross injustice against them. But it is not just about zoning to the south in general, this is what the APC has done. But within the south-east itself, it is only an act of natural justice for them to say, look, it has to go to the south-east, you know, and that's what Fene Fene has adequately said, you know, and then Well, I'm sorry, I just want to come in there. I'm so sorry to talk over you. You talked about Fene Ferreira, the Middle Belt Forum, of course, PANDAF. They have come out with statements. But there are two things I'm going to ask. How can we tell that this is not political lip service because we see a lot of these people saying a lot of things, but then we're not necessarily seeing the action to follow what they're saying. Again, can we be assured that there will be concerted efforts within the south, because as you can see, there are more and more south-westerners who are declaring for presidency much more than, I mean, you hardly even see a south-south person, but we're seeing more people from the south-west. How ready is the south to push that power or that ticket to the south-east even in the first instance? Yeah, I don't know about pushing it to the south-east because obviously those in the south-west under the platform of the APC do not have any obligation to GDP. So I think it's only a natural thing for them to want to insist that the president, if a president can emerge from the south-west, should emerge from the south-west. But I think what is now happening is that there are even in situations that even APC that has zoned the presidency to the south-west is beginning to think twice about it. Perhaps they feel that there is a weakness in the south and that the south has not been able to come up with. They require consensus needed to put pressure on the north to give up on the issue of the presidency. But they will be making a terrible mistake if they think that after eight years under the presidency that the north can remain in power for another eight years. That will be chaos and that's why people are wanting it. So what is expected really is for the political elites who look, if it's a matter of justice and equity and fairness, then the presidency should go to the south-east. If it is that alone, it should go to the south-east. And that's why a lot of other people are beginning to say that it will amount to injustice if the south-east mind that. But there is also the issue of the existential threat that further violence in the south-east poses to the rest of the country. The violence in the north is even enough for anybody to think twice about allowing a northern candidate right now to retain power. Because they have been in power for about eight years. The insecurity has become worse, far worse. In fact, there are some people even in the north, some nothens that are beginning to say that they do not think that a northen man might be able to stem the tide of violence in the north. That perhaps he might need somebody from the south to be able to do that. And then of course, the contention of violence in the south-east. So it makes a lot more sense. So any attempt by the entire north itself to say, look, power is not going to shift to the south. We bring the south together in a way that the north is not going to enjoy. So like I said, I think that the very best and ultimately at the end of the day is to allow justice and equity to prevail. And to combat the crisis of injustice or the issue of injustice and unfairness that has been a lot of the south is at least on the basis of the perception of the perception of how they have been tutored. Okay. Quickly, we have just a minute. So I'm going to give each person 30 seconds. I'm coming to you, Francis. With all of the many people who have declared, we've seen one south-easterner for I think the People's Democratic Party, maybe two in the PDP, I'm not very certain. But what do you think the power, the backing, the following of those people, what change can it really make going forward? But all the chaos that is going on between the political parties, especially for the PDP who's saying, we're throwing the ring open, come one, come all. How do we see this campaign season playing out? I think PDP would be shooting itself in the foot when, for taking the decision that it wants to take, I would say for equity, justice and fairness, PDP should do the right thing because actually PDP is the party for the south-easterners. It has always been the party for south-easterners. And there's this agreement and arrangement that it is time for PDP to zone the presidency to the south-east. So I think that they'll be doing something that is so disgraceful. And if they don't take time, that will lead to the ultimate death of PDP in Nigerian political space. Okay, and finally, Achike, because we are out of time, you talked about justice, equity and fair play. Has that really ever come to play in Nigerian politics? Why would it come to play in 2023? For what reason? There has been balancing. There has been balancing. And it is that balancing that people are talking about. I mean, there was balancing with the death of Adiola. There was balancing when you had crisis in the Niger Delta. There was balancing when it came to, you know, multi-parry and so on. And so when it comes to the south-east, there has to be that balance. If that balance is not assured by the political elites, and it's about collective bargaining, that is what they do. All of these things that all these, you know, dynamics that produced especially Basin Joe and Jonathan and so on, was a matter of collective bargaining by the political elites. So if the political elites, and I think they should be smart enough on time designs, and to read the science of the times, that it does not all go well for the rest of the country, for the North, to be full-hearted for them to attempt to remain to retain power in 2023. Well, I want to say thank you. At Chigeture, Francis Chilaka, both are political analysts. Thank you so much for being part of the conversation. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Well, we'll leave you with what Nigerians think about the calls for a Southeast president. And that has been the show tonight on Plus Politics. We're coming your way again tomorrow, 7 p.m. West African time. I'm Mary Anna Cohn. Have a good evening. And this is it. This is it. Because they have not the one-unitness, the oneness, the unity. So they don't have the material for now to work with. The moment they have the oneness, the unity, the one accord, they will rule Nigerian. They deserve it now because the system has not been fair to them. I personally am not from the Igbo states but I personally think that they are hard-working people. You understand? Because Nigerians they have not been fair to them. The leadership and everything that have been kicked outside and I think it's high time they get their own share of what is happening in the country. Yes, I think so. Because Igbo people have more experience than all these outsiders in Europe. So I think Igbo person, if you rule Nigeria, he will rule it better. Well, to the best of my knowledge, if it is by a rotation, it is built on by a rotation, if there is an agreement within both the northerners, the westerners and the southerners that things should be done rotationally. I mean, choosing the president of Nigeria. If the Europas have ruled and the northerners have ruled, if it's come to the westerners to rule, they should rule. If it is turned for the northerners to rule, they should rule. If it is turned to the easterners to rule, they should rule. If they should give an Igbo the opportunity this time, I think maybe it will be a change and let's see how it goes.