The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide (OYC) has alleged moves by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to pick its presidential candidate for the 2023 election from the north.
It cautioned the opposition party against such action, saying Igbo President in 2023 is non-negotiable.
President-General of the group Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro and Secretary-General Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, advised Igbo politicians against accepting the vice-presidential slot.
The group said it was alarmed that despite voting massively for the PDP since 1999, the party might be treating the Igbo as “cows that must not only be milked but used to death.”
In a statement, the group said: “The OYC is irrevocably committed to the advancement of the Igbo nation. In the struggle to protect, promote and prosper the life and livelihood of the average Igbo man, the council will speak with courage and act with wisdom.
“The OYC is committed to the idea that the Igbo man would thrive best in a restructured Federal Republic of Nigeria. What the Igbo man seeks is not a helping hand. The Igbo man demands a level playing field.
“The Igbo man in Ihiala or Zungeru or Potiskum has invested his faith in Nigeria. He wants from Nigeria the sense of belonging of a first son—a shared sense of belonging with the Fulani and the Yoruba. He wants a platform for the maximisation of his God-given potential.
“While the OYC is pushing fiercely for devolution of power to the regions and resource control, the council will keep its eyes on 2023. It is not because an Igbo Presidency will solve all that bedevils the Igbo. But an Igbo Presidency will assuage and comfort, will offer that sense of belonging, and will pursue devolution of powers and industrialisation.
“While watching the events leading up to 2023, the OYC has observed some troubling developments.
“Igbos have voted massively for the PDP since 1999 but it appears that the PDP regards the Igbos as cows that must be milked and used to death. The PDP is making subterranean diabolical plans to retain power in the North in 2023.
“OYC wishes to make it abundantly clear:The PDP must not insult the intelligence of the Igbo.
“If the PDP thinks the Igbo will wait till 2031 before it gets a chance at its presidential ticket , then the PDP isn’t just treacherous, it is delusional. Perhaps the PDP doesn’t need Igbo votes.”