Chief Edwin Clark
2023 Presidency: ‘If the PDP abandons Igbo, then we all will abandon the PDP’ – Clark, receives Umahi
[From CHINEDU NWAFOR, Abakaliki]
Niger Delta leader and Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark has declared his support for South East Presidency ahead of the 2023 General Election.
Chief Clark, who made a particular reference to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the South East people had served the party 100%, vowing that if the PDP abandons the region in 2023, they (Niger Delta region) will also abandon the party.
Clark spoke on Wednesday at his Abuja residence when Governor David Umahi came to consult him over his Presidential ambition.
He emphasized that it was the turn of core Igbo to produce the next President of Nigeria.
“When I say I want a president of Nigeria of Igbo extraction, I do not mean someone from Delta or Rivers State or anywhere else safe from a pure southeast Igbo President,” he said.
Chief Clark also prayed for Governor Umahi for success in his Presidential ambition, and urged other related ethnic nationalities to support him to become the next president of Nigeria.
“My preferred choice is Igbo. So, my son, I have heard you, I have prayed for you, whatever you deserve, God will grant it for you.
“When you defected to APC, I asked why, we all are fighting this cause, but if the PDP that we the Igbo served 100% abandoned the Igbos, then we all will abandon the PDP, I have told them already.”
He commended Governor Umahi for the infrastructural accomplishments in Ebonyi State.
“I have heard about the good works you are doing in Ebonyi State, God will guide you and protect you, what you will become, only God can decide, and no human being can change it. God will give you the courage, the wisdom, the determination to become what God desires you to be.
“You have all the qualities and God will protect you and grant you the grace to achieve all your desires in good health and long life.”
Earlier in his remarks, Governor Umahi applauded the elder statesman for his blessings and assured him that he would turn around the fortunes of Nigeria if given the opportunity.
“I believe that if God shows mercy on this country, He will not bring up a pure professional politician to be the president of Nigeria. Nigeria needs a bit of a business-minded person who also has gone through our nature of politics, and Nigeria needs someone who can engage very properly. Without engagement, without finding what are the people’s problems, why do you do what you are doing, and without fairness, equity, and justice it will be very difficult for our country to unite.
Umahi added, “What we do not know is that both good leaders and bad leaders all come from God. When God is happy with the people, He brings good leaders to them but when He is angry with the people, He gives them bad leaders. So, when people castigate leaders, it is God they are castigating so, we turn our eyes unto God that God needs to show mercy on us.”
