Ohanaeze Ndigbo, an apex Igbo socio-cultural group in Nigeria, on Tuesday, lambasted the Chairman of DAAR Communications Plc, Raymond Dokpesi, for supporting a northern presidency for the 2023 elections.
The group, in a statement, said it was not surprising that Dokpesi, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), backs a northerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari. It noted that northerners paid the media entrepreneur’s school fees and his allegiance is to the region, even though he is from Edo State, in the South-South region.
Ironically, while Dokpesi had said no Southeasterner can win the election for his party, he had added that he was canvassing for the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, for President in 2023, because they had been childhood friends.
According to Ohanaeze, Nigeria might remain in crisis until leaders embrace justice and equity.
The National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, Chief Alex Ogbonnia said in the group’s statement,
“I sympathise with our southern son, Chief Dokpesi because he started as the personal assistant to Alhaji Bamaga Tukur at the Nigerian Ports Authority. Dokpesi also served under Alhaji Umaru Dikko and General Garba Wushishi. Records reveal that Alh. Bamanga Tukur paid his fees from secondary school to postgraduate level. To that extent, he owes allegiance to his benefactors and feels no compunction to profile the entire south as electoral liability.
“One can easily understand the psychological ambivalence in the Dokpesi persona. On the other hand, there is no reason for the condescension and disdain he handed over to the entire South.”
Ohanaeze’s statement adds:
“Dokpesi’s assumptions are unreflective, weird and unworthy. Any person who loves Nigeria should be an advocate of power rotation especially between the north and the south; and those our sons and daughters who lay claim to leadership should not, under any guise, give the impression that the south is a lame-duck, an electoral liability; and therefore must depend on the north to define the political trajectory of Nigeria.”
