What I Said About Igbo Presidency - Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has clarified
his remarks about Igbo Presidency. Obasanjo said
he spoke out because he felt that the apparent
marginalisation of the South East people was
wrong.
He however insisted that he didn't say it must
happen in 2019 or 2023.

“Again, I did not say that. You people say whatever
you want to say,” Obasanjo told journalists.
“Look, Christian Association of Nigeria, Ogun State
chapter, came to see me here. They asked me to brief
them on the situation in Southern Kaduna.
“I have been briefed by Bishop Matthew Kukah who
comes from that area. I have been briefed by General
Martin-Luther Agwai who comes from that area. I
gave them my own understanding of that issue.

“I told them the Southern Kaduna issue is both
historical, cultural, religious and political. So if you
now want to resolve the issue, you have to take all
these issues together.
“And I said the problem is when we fail to attend to
something the time we’re supposed to attend to it
and then it boomerangs on our face, then we don’t
have anybody to blame.

“I said, here in Ogun State, we have a bit of Southern
Kaduna problem. I said since Ogun State was created,
we have had four elected governors.
“We have three senatorial districts — east, central and
west. It has rotated between east and central. And I
said west has not had a governor.
“So I said I don’t know when you will get there, but if
you don’t get there when you should get there and
the west decides to go into agitation then you have
yourself to blame.
“I said the same with Nigeria, at independence we had
a country of tripod. The north, the east and the west.
The north, majority tribe is Hausa-Fulani. The east,
majority tribe is Igbo. The west, majority tribe is
Yoruba.

“Hausa-Fulani in the north cannot complain. Yoruba,
they cannot complain. Even those who didn’t vote for
Obasanjo the first time, they had to accept later.
“I said the Igbo haven’t had that chance. Now, we
must be mindful, that we do not ignore that. That
must be taken care of.