2023: MASSOB leader, Uwazuruike, opposes South-East bid for presidency, backs Yahaya Bello

The Leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, on Saturday declared his opposition to the South-East’s bid for the presidency in 2023.

Uwazuruike, who led some youths from the South-East on a solidarity march in Owerri, Imo, in support of the 2023 presidential bid of the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, expressed reservation about the quest for president of South-East extraction.

He said the race for the presidency should be thrown open for all the regions to test their strength.

The youths, who started the procession from the MASSOB leader’s house in Owerri, marched through the streets and carried different placards with inscriptions such as “Power to the Youths, Support Yahaya Bello,” “Youths Can Also Lead,” and “Yahaya Bello for the Youths,” among others.

They stressed that the only solution to Nigeria’s political quagmire was for youths to take over in 2023.

Uwazuruike, who advised Nigerians and party leaders to shun zoning, said his group would support Bello to become the country’s next president because of his leadership qualities.

He said: “All Nigerians should rally round the youthful governor. We are supporting Bello for this and no one else. That he has the capacity to solve the problem of insecurity and a host of others facing the nation is not in doubt.

READ ALSO: Nigeria in dire need of smart-thinking president —Yahaya Bello

“This is a crucial time in the history of the country. We must give youths a chance, especially one that has demonstrated uncommon capacity, in the person of Yahaya Bello.”

Uwazuruike, who is also the founder of the Biafran Independent Movement (BIM) said the idea of an Igbo president should be discarded by all if Nigeria’s sovereignty must be upheld.

He said: “I don’t believe in the idea of a zoning system or Igbo president because zoning means sectionalism.

“If we want to talk about Nigeria, we must throw the presidential contest open. But if you throw it open, it must be for the youths not elders, because the elders have failed us.

“The youths must be given power, the elders have continued to be in power without great results.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now