Bashir, the son of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, has declared that Nigeria is due for a “pure blood Igbo President”.
In a post on X, Bashir argued that without an Igbo leader, the nation’s historical wounds will remain unhealed.
“It’s high time Nigeria had a pure blood Igbo President,” he wrote. “Until then, all these wounds of the past will persist to remain.”
His comments reignite the long-standing demand for a president of South-East origin—a zone yet to produce a civilian head of state since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999.
In 2019, former Anambra State governor Peter Obi served as running mate to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar. Following internal party conflicts, Obi defected to the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, finishing third in that year’s presidential election behind Atiku and winner Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The 2023 poll was preceded by widespread agitation from the South-East, with many calling for an Igbo presidency as a matter of equity and national cohesion.
