Politics
Until a president from Igbo extraction emerges, Nigeria will remain a persistent rhetoric of ethnic origins in leadership debates—— Segun Sowunmi (PDP chieftain)
In an interview via MIC On Podcast, PDP chieftain Segun Sowunmi expressed his long-standing concern over the imbalance in Nigeria’s political leadership, particularly the continued exclusion of the Southeast from the presidency.
His reflection was rooted in a personal sense of fairness and national unity, which, he revealed, had often restrained his own presidential ambitions.
Sowunmi recounted how Nigeria’s leadership history—from Olusegun Obasanjo to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Muhammadu Buhari, and now Bola Tinubu—has excluded the Southeast.
He believes that for Nigeria’s democracy to truly mature and for conversations around leadership to evolve beyond ethnicity, a President of Igbo extraction must emerge.
According to him, only then can the country move past the persistent rhetoric of ethnic origins in leadership debates.
He expressed hope that Peter Obi, as a prominent figure from the Southeast, would consolidate his political strengths, not just for his personal ambition, but for the broader goal of national inclusiveness and stability.
Sowunmi stressed that Nigeria’s founding structure as a federation of three regions—Eastern, Western, and Northern, should reflect in its leadership history.