The Director-General, DG of the Nigeria Film Corporation, Dr Chidia Maduekwe, has adduced reasons why he believes President Muhammadu Buhari is supportive of his successor coming from the South-east geopolitical zone.
Maduekwe, who spoke while interacting with newsmen in his Ohafia country home, stated that the political antecedent of the President rubbishes claims in some quarters that Buhari is a hater of the people of the South-east.
“It is not true that the president does not want a president of Igbo extraction, rather he is supportive of the cause,” the federal government official averred.
He argued that there is no way that Buhari will hate the Igbo yet repeatedly pick prominent politicians from the South-east as his running mate in previous presidential runs.
Recalling that then-candidate Buhari chose Chuba Okadigbo, an eminent Igbo man, as his vice-presidential candidate in 2003, Maduekwe said, “in 2007, he also selected another prominent Igbo man, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, as his running mate”.
“It is possible that either of these two Igbo personalities could have succeeded him if Buhari was elected in 2003 or 2007,” he said.
The DG further insisted that the South-east had received a fair share of the president’s political appointments and distribution of development projects in the country with many Igbo already appointed into strategic offices by the president.
He cited the appointment of Sen. Ifeanyi Ararume (Imo) as the Chairman of, Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He also mentioned Mr Ogbugo Ukoha (Abia) as the Executive Director, Distributions System, Storage and Retail Infrastructure in the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
He then asked, “Why are we not celebrating these appointments of our people by the president and stop criticizing him?”
Maduekwe described the second Niger Bridge, which is nearing completion, as one of the multi-billion naira projects of the present administration.
He said although President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration conceived the project, it later became a tool for political campaigns.
“But this administration started the execution and is determined to complete and deliver the project,” he said.
The DG further cited the reconstruction of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, as another landmark project of Buhari’s administration in the South-east.
source; Bibian Anekwe News
