Soludo says South-East backing Tinubu could open door to Igbo presidency
- Anambra governor Chukwuma Soludo says South-East support for Tinubu's second term could win South-West backing for an Igbo president.
- He spoke in a video to his followers, calling the presidency a matter of discussion and agreement.
- The South-East has long pushed for the presidency; Peter Obi ran in 2023 and came third.
Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo has tied the South-East's hope of producing a president to how the region handles President Bola Tinubu's second-term bid.
In a video message to his followers, Soludo said the presidency is settled through discussion and agreement rather than by chance. His argument: if the South-East backs Tinubu, who is from the South-West, the South-West would in turn support an Igbo presidency when power next returns to the South.
“Presidency is about discussion and agreement,” Soludo said in the video.
He framed it as a trade between the two southern regions. With Tinubu, a South-Westerner, currently in power, support from the South-East now could be repaid later, he suggested.
Why it matters
The South-East has been clamouring for the presidency for years, and the debate shapes how the region's voters and leaders line up ahead of the next election cycle.
In 2023, former Anambra governor Peter Obi ran for president on the Labour Party (LP) platform and came third. Obi insisted he won the election and that he was robbed of victory.
Soludo's remarks will be read closely in the South-East, where many voters backed Obi, and in the South-West, where Tinubu's support base sits. They also touch on the wider question of zoning, the informal arrangement that rotates the presidency between the North and the South.
What happens next
Soludo did not give a timeline for when the South-West would be expected to return the favour, and the report did not include any response from the South-West or from the presidency. For now, the proposal is a talking point rather than a deal.
