Why Igbo Leaders Visited Buhari, Begged Him For Not Supporting Him In The Election – Ikedife

Some Igbo leaders including retired Army Generals and
the former President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Dr
Dozie Ikedife have paid a private visit to the President-
elect, General Muhammadu Buhari to make a case for
the Igbo in the incoming APC-led federal government so
that the region will not be abandoned for not giving
massive support to the victorious party like the South
West during the just concluded presidential election.
Dr Ikedife who disclosed this at his Nnewi residence,
yesterday, said the purpose of the visit was to appeal to
General Buhari not to leave the Igbo in the cold in his ap­
pointments and infrastructural development because of
the low support he received from the South East geo-
political zone during the presidential election.
“You know people of the South East voted heavily for the
PDP and not very much for the APC. And I had always
warned during the campaigns that the Igbo should not
put all their eggs in one basket. And the impression will
be that the President-elect was not supported by the
people of the South East. Our visit is to let the President-
elect know that he is the President for all and that he
has to accommodate people from the South East in his
administration.
“We have people who are capable, qualified, hardwork­
ing and technocrats who can work with him in Igbo land.
We have people like the former Governor of Abia State,
Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, very brilliant and very respectful.
We have Oscar Udoji and other people of high integrity
and dedicated politicians like Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige.
And there are people who worked tirelessly for the APC
to win in the South East, people who did not vie for any
elective position, no matter the low number of votes they
attracted because of the overwhelming South East sup­
port for the PDP. It is important that these people should
be accommodated,” Dr Ikedife said.
He noted that it was a fact that the National Executive
Council (NEC) of the APC had done its zoning as to who
got what, the Igbo, he insisted, should be well
accommodated and not to be left to pick the crumbs.
Dr Ikedife explained that he was too old to be given any
serious appointment, adding that his agitation was to
protect the interest of his race as an Igbo leader.
He said their discussion with General Buhari did not
centre on infrastructure in Igbo land, “but during the
President-elect’s campaign in the South East at the last
presidential campaign, I chaired one of the occasions
when he visited the entrepreneurs and leaders of the
economy in the South East where we presented our
primary needs including electricity, water, roads and the
construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge, and so on. We
documented these things.”
On General Buhari’s reaction to their request, he said the
President-elect was friendly and appreciated the visit but
did not say outright that he was going to grant the
request or not “since we did not sign any contract with
him.”
He said General Buhari listened to them carefully and
that the team was of the hope that in fullness of time he
would react positively so that the Igbo would be carried
along in the scheme of things.