‘Igbo may never become President’ — Sam Amadi makes 2027–2035 prediction

A former chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Sam Amadi, has stirred fresh debate over the South-East’s chances of producing Nigeria’s president, saying the region may never attain the position.

Amadi, writing on X on Friday, said the South-East might have no realistic path to the presidency in 2027, 2031 or even 2035.

He advised that the region should instead focus on economic growth and strengthening its influence across Nigeria and globally.

“May be South-East has no chance at all, whether in 2027, 2031 or 2035 , just as Jews never have in the US. We can focus on building South-East and prospering across Nigeria and the world,” he wrote.

The policy expert also questioned the value of the Nigerian presidency, describing it as an avenue for personal enrichment.

“By the way, what has been the worth of Nigerian presidency? Just another opportunity for some people to steal a varnishing wealth as they are doing now,” Amadi added.

Amadi’s comments came in response to an earlier post by X user, Demola Olarewaju, who argued that the South-East has never had a clear pathway to the Presidency since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999.

Olaewaju noted that while the South-West has produced presidents through both nationalist and regional political strategies, the South-South only got an opportunity by “chance or fate,” leaving the South-East without similar prospects.

“Not my place to say, and I won’t. I’ll just add that a Yoruba has two pathways to Presidency in Nigeria since 1999:

“You can be a nationalist like Obasanjo and win; you can still be an ethnocentrist like Tinubu and win.

“South-South got a chance by mistake/fate, South-East has never,” Olarewaju wrote.

‘Igbo may never become President’ — Sam Amadi makes 2027–2035 prediction