Immediate past Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Joe Nworgu, in this interview talks about Igbo presidency in 2023 and other national issues.
How would you describe President Buhari’s stance towards Southeast in the past four years in relation to your earlier position that his presidency won’t serve the interest of Ndigbo?
Four years ago, I was Secretary-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and I recall making public statements on how best it suited the Igbo and I did not factor President Buhari into it. I had followed President Buhari when he was head of state in 1983 through 1985, when he took power from the civil administration. He accused them of corruption, reined in most politicians of that era, 1979 to 1983, into prison.
Alex Ekwueme, who was vice president, with no constitutional powers or authority, was taken to prison, while the president, Shehu Shagari, was kept under house arrest in his house. Ekwueme was being looked up to take over the presidency in 1987.
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In fact, that coup of Buhari is suspected to be aimed at preventing Ekwueme, an Igbo man from taking over from Shagari because Shagari had just won his second term. It was projected that after his eight years, power would come south and his deputy, Ekwueme, would take over. This was Buhari for us.
After the coup, when the head of state, Abacha, started the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), he made Buhari the Executive Secretary. If you analyze the activities of PTF, you would find out that 66.9 per cent of PTF expenditure went to the North West (Buhari’s zone). We of Southeast got 6.3 percent. This tendency is what we analyzed and said if this is his attitude, his leading anything will not be in Igbo interest and these are the antecedents we projected and said, ‘no; this type of person who has this mindset cannot serve Igbo interests and we have been vindicated.’