Igbos Have Always Oppose Yoruba Presidency – Olu Falae 

 

Former Minister of Finance, Chief Olu Falae, has traced the political history and relationship between the Igbos and the Yoruba saying that the former always oppose the latter in quest for the Presidency.
Falae in his recent interview  said that although the Igbos were the only ones that opposed the Yorubas when other regions in Nigeria agreed that the Yorubas should produce the President in 1999, he still believes that the right thing to do now is to cede power to the South-East because they are the only ones that have not tasted power.

Falae recalled  that when he contested for the presidency, he was opposed by Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife whom he defeated to emerge as the candidate of his party. He said that the same thing happened in the People’s Democratic Party when Olusegun Obasanjo was opposed by Dr Alex Ekweme.

“… In 1999 when the rest of Nigerians conceded the presidency to Yoruba because of MKO Abiola’s issue, it was only the Igbos who did not. I had to defeat Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife in the Alliance for Democracy to become the candidate for the AD/APP. Olusegun Obasanjo had to defeat Dr Alex Ekwueme in the PDP to become a candidate. The Igbos were the only ones that opposed both of us in our respective parties, they did not concede to us along with other Nigerians.”

He added that as a member of the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, the group has not yet taken a decision on which presidential candidate to support in the forthcoming election.

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