'Things will be okay' if Tinubu is elected President - Prominent Igbo leader

Joe Igbokwe, a prominent voice from the South East of Nigeria has said "things will be okay" should former Lagos State Governor and National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu emerge as the next President of the country.

Igbokwe, a chieftain of the ruling party and the special adviser to Lagos state governor on drainage and water resources made the statement in an interview with BBC Pidgin.

Asked if he sees Tinubu, an APC national leader, as a potential president, he said: "If he becomes the president of this country, things will be okay. Things will be fine. He's a builder. He laid the foundation for the growth of Lagos. And Lagos is now the fifth-largest economy in Africa. So he can deliver.

"He's a chartered accountant. He worked with Mobil. He ruled Lagos. He has been a senator. He has a lot to bring to the table. You know, experience cannot be learned from textbooks alone. So, he has a lot to bring to the table. But it's Nigerians that will decide." Though he has not openly declared his ambition, Tinubu is strongly rumoured to be interested in succeeding President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

In the interview which is also published on Facebook, Igbokwe said he believed that it is the turn of the southern region to produce Nigeria's president after the expiration of President Buhari's tenure in 2023.

We have an understanding, a gentleman deal between the north and the south. So, power comes to the south but I don't know where it's going.

He said it should the turn of the southeast if the region had played the politics well. However, he said the Igbo-dominated region tied its hands with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and refused to engage with other people.

Asked if a time will come when Nigeria will have a president of Igbo extraction, Igbokwe said: "I may be the one when the time comes. It is possible but you have to play the politics. You have to build the bridges."