About 85 political groups have endorsed the 2023 presidential ambition of Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.

The former President of the Senate, who is seeking the ticket of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election got the massive nod during a Solidarity Rally organised by the United for Better Nigeria Initiative (UBNI), on Monday at the Shehu Musa Yar Adua Centre in Abuja.

It would be recalled that Senator Anyim had declared his presidential aspiration for 2023 since last year. The political pressure groups which took turn to throw their weight behind him said they did so because Anyim is credible and qualified to be the next president of Nigeria,

The event which was in collaboration with the South West Coalition Group, South-South Coalition Group and the Northern Coalition Group witnessed a large turnout of supporters chanting pro-Anyim for president songs.

The supporters were observed adorning vests, caps bearing Anyim’s portraits and handing out posters and leaflets to express their support for him.

Leader of the Coalition of Northern Groups for South East Presidency 2023, Alhaji Suleiman Shehu, who addressed the gathering, traced the political history of Nigeria since Independence and said that the South East was the only region yet to rule the country. Shehu argued that having tasted the leadership of the other regions, it would only be fair that Nigerians support the South East to produce the President in 2023.

Shehu said: “We have seen the leadership qualities of the North and the South West but we have not seen the leadership of the people from the South East. What are we afraid of in electing a President from the South East? Peace, justice and fairness can never be attained without power rotation in Nigeria.”

For Dr Kayode Odeyemi, who led the South West Coalition to the rally, emphasis should be on the need for Nigerians to lend support not only to the South East as a zone but to Anyim Pius Anyim, whom he described as the right man for the job.

Said he: “We are solidly behind the candidature of Sen Anyim Pius Anyim (APA). He is the most qualified and prepared for the race. This is the time for the South East, let us give him the support because he is capable of taking Nigeria to the promised land.

“He was not just the President of the Senate, he was also the Secretary to the government of the Federation (SGF), which placed him in the engine room of governance at the Federal level. If the man has held these two strategic positions, it then follows that he has the capacity and is fully prepared for the job. This us a crusade that has permeated the nooks and crannies of this country.

“We call on all Nigerians to queue behind this candidate and give the South East a chance in the interest of fairness, equity and justice.”

Several goodwill messages from other groups represented at the event were read with each of them pointing to the wisdom of having the Presidency shift to the South East geopolitical zone in 2023.