Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the biggest Igbo social and cultural group, has said that Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former governor of Kano State, is not fit to be president.
Alex Ogbonnia, who is the National Publicity Secretary for Ohanaeze, was responding to what the presidential candidate for the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, had said.
Kwankwaso had said that the Southeast was not ready from a political standpoint to be Nigeria's leader in 2023.
He said that Peter Obi, who was running for president with the Labour Party (LP), would have to be his running mate, not the other way around.
Kwankwaso's comment was wrong, so Ogbonnia said the NNPP presidential candidate didn't know how to judge the Igbos.
He insisted that the Igbos had been ready for a long time to run Nigeria.
In a statement, Ogbonnia said that anyone who has done well in business and lived in other parts of Nigeria can run the country.
The person in charge of writing for the group said that an Igbo president would do a better job because they know the country.
He said that Nigerians shouldn't doubt that the Igbo people could run the country if they were given the chance.
He said, "Kwankwaso's words are not good. He doesn't know Igbo, so he can't judge the people there. No one would expect a presidential candidate to say something like that.
"As far as I know, the Igbo are the reason this country has been able to stay alive so far. He should know that anyone who can do well in business and live in any part of the country can do well as president.
"You can't say that Kwankwaso is the best thing the country can have when it comes to the presidency.
I don't think our competence should ever be questioned, except for the fact that we are too focused on ourselves and the way politics work in Nigeria.