5 Reasons Why Buhari Will Still Appoint An Igbo Man As SGF Despite Ekweremadu’s Emergence

There has been speculation that President Muhammadu Buhari will
appoint an Igbo man as the secretary to the government of the
federation when he finally decides to constitute his cabinet.

Last week, another report surfaced in the media that the president is
under pressure from top chieftains of the All Progressives Congress
not to consider an Igbo man for the postbecause of the election of
Senator Ike Ekweremadu as Nigeria's deputy Senate president.

After a critical analysis, Naij.com comes up with 5 reasons why the
Igbos will still be rewarded with the position.

1.
APC Still Favours Zoning:
Despite criticisms that have followed the way the party unsuccessfully
tried to zone the National Assembly positions, the APC by all
indications still favours zoning and has already reserved the SGF
position for the Igbos according to various media reports in the past.

2. United Igbos:
The Igbos in the APC are somewhat united in the race to grab the SGF
position. There is no major rivalry and tension as they all seem to be
speaking with one voice. The revelation by the Imo state governor,
Rochas Okorocha, that he submitted three names to President Buhari,
who are front-liners for the position shows that the Igbos in the APC
are united and not divided in their quest to occupy the revered post.

3. Capable Candidates:.
The Igbos in the APC are not short of capable hands that can steer the
administrative duties of the Buhari administration. From Dr. Ogbonnaya
Onu to Dr. Chris Ngige, to Professor Anthony Anwuka, the Igbos in the
APC are well positioned for the SGF position.

4. The ANPP Angle:
In terms of the Igbos in the ruling party, the odds favour Dr.
Ogbonnaya Onu. This is because he belongs to the All Nigeria's Peoples
Party bloc that merged with other parties that produced the APC. He
was even the one who led the ANPP negotiation as he was the national
chairman of the party at the time. The defunct ANPP, the Action
Congress of Nigeria, the Congress for Progressive Change and the New
PDP all merged to give birth to the APC. As things stand now, the CPC
pro­duced the current president, Buhari, the ACN produced the vice
president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and the New PDP produced both the
Senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr.
Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara respectively. The ANPP is yet to
benefit from the new arrangement.

5. Ignore The Igbos At Your Own Peril:
The Igbos have always formed a united political front at any given
time in their political journey. This was evident in the last general
elections as the people of the south-east voted for the ex-president,
Goodluck Jonathan en masse. The APC definitely knows that it will be
political suicide not to carry the south easterners along in its new
administration. An SGF of Igbo extraction will also give the APC an
edge as regards the next general elections in Igbo land and also
convince them that some notions about the APC in the region are
untrue.

—naij.com