Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Igbo Heroes and Icons Foundation (IHIF) has predicted a landslide victory in the South-East for Peter Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate.
The foundation made the prediction in reaction to a recent statement attributed to the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would secure votes in the South-East in the election.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Chinedu Nsofor, the group described Obi as the strongest expression of what it called the South-East’s aspiration to produce a Nigerian president of Igbo descent.
The foundation said the demand for an Igbo presidency was rooted in fairness, equity, justice and reciprocity, rather than exclusion or opposition to other ethnic groups.
It argued that the South-East had supported presidential candidates from other regions, including Shehu Shagari from the North-West, Olusegun Obasanjo from the South-West, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua from North-West, Goodluck Jonathan from the South-South and Bola Tinubu from the South-West.
According to the group, after decades of supporting candidates from other regions, fairness demands that Nigerians give the Igbo an opportunity to produce the president in 2027.
“The South East has watched presidential power move through different regions while the Igbo have yet to produce a president since independence,” the statement said.
The foundation called on other opposition presidential contenders to consider building consensus around Obi and urged political leaders to support what it described as the South-East’s demand for equity.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us. 2027 is the time to give the Igbo people their turn. 2027 is the time for an Igbo presidency,” the group said.
