Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, on Monday said the South East region of the country should be allowed to produce the next President of Nigeria.
Obi said for the sake of equity, justice and respect for the South-East zone, an Igbo indigene must be allowed to rule the nation.
Obi, who is a presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stated this during a meeting with delegates and leaders of the party in Ogun State on Monday.
Speaking at the party secretariat in Okemosan, Abeokuta, Obi urged party leaders not to allow money and sentiments influence their votes during the primaries.
The former governor said he remained committed to building a better Nigeria that every citizen would be proud of.
Obi, who was in company with Dr. Doyin Okupe, said the nation was in crisis, claiming he remained the best candidate to take Nigeria out of the doldrums.
His words, “Let me assure you that my commitment is to build a better Nigeria, my desperation is to see Nigeria better than it is today. We cannot continue the way Nigeria is today.
“What we want to say is that a nation must be built on fairness, must be built on equity, must be built on respect for each other and we in the South East are saying we too should be allowed to serve and I assure you that that opportunity will change Nigeria.
“No country with 33 per cent unemployment and 65 per cent underemployment will survive. 60 per cent of the unemployed and underemployed are among the youths, the most productive population of the country and at their young age are doing nothing.
“Today, our nation is owing people pension, they don’t pay people’s gratuity. Our schools are closed, our universities have been closed now and nobody is saying anything. There are 15 million out-of-school children, and the drug prevalence among our youths today is the highest in the world. We must change the situation.”