Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State has backed the Igbo people of the South East geo-political zone to produce Nigeria’s next President.
Governor Ishaku noted that there is no need to stop zoning at this critical time since it had been applied in the past, saying it would be like changing the rules of the game midway.
He said the zoning arrangement must be sustained, calling on the stakeholders to workout a formula that would keep Nigeria in one piece.
“We must not do anything that would undermine our existence as one united country,” the Governor warned as quoted by Sun.
“So, I support that the zoning arrangement should be allowed to continue so that everybody can have a taste of the pudie.
“I believe that the Igbo have a legitimate aspiration, but what makes their case bad is the threat they always subjected the country to through their agitation for Biafra.
“Biafra is an unfortunate development in the past and it belongs to the past and people should not be rubbing that on our faces,” he added.
He said Nigeria had passed the stage where somebody should be threatened, insisting that if the Igbo “want the rest of the country to trust them and support their presidential bid, they should stop this agitation and caution their children.”
The Governor further noted that most of the people leading the agitation for Biafra were not even born at the time of the war that claimed millions of lives “and they do not know the cost of war and the psychological implications of war.”
He said the Igbo must not “be reminding Nigerians of Biafra” but instead demand for the presidency, which, according to him, “they have the right to demand for it because they are legitimate Nigerians.”