Former President of the Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim, says he is contesting to be president as a Nigerian with “nationalistic” pedigree and not on ethnicity sentiments, adding that call for an Igbo presidency should be stopped.

“Why promoting Igbo presidency? Am I not a Nigeria even though I am from South-East? You should not promote this ethnicity thing,” Mr Anyim said. “I’m qualified as Nigerian. I have the pedigree that I’m nationalistic. I don’t think I’m limited because of where I am from.”

Mr Anyim made this statement in an interview with Channels TV Friday night when asked of he thinks it is time for president of Igbo extraction in 2023.

He further explained that former President Olusegun Obasanjo was not accepted by people from his region but became president because Nigerians voted for him, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari also failed to win election three times until he formed an alliance with people from the southern region of the country.

“President Obasanjo from South-West became a president not because South-West supported him. They did not want him. They did not support him. Nigerians chose him,” Mr Ayim said. “President Buhari ran for Presidency three times. In those three times, he won major votes in the North but he will become president until he teamed up with the South.”

“So for anybody from the South-East, it is not the South-East that would make you the President. You are going to be President of Nigeria and it is my desire and target to be acceptable to Nigerians. If I’m acceptable to Nigerians and they vote for me, it does not matter where I come from,” he added.

Mr Anyim’s stance comes amidst agitation for a president of Igbo extraction based on arguments that since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999, the South-East, a region that is home to Igbos, one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria, has not produced a president.

At the moment, APC national leader Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, both from South-West are warming up to replace Mr Buhari come 2023. Similarly, northern aspirants chiefly ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto are also in the 2023 race, ignoring the call for a power shift to the South-East.