The secretary-general of apex-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mr. Uche Okwukwu, has denied the alleged endorsement of presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar and his running-mate, Mr. Peter Obi, by the group as the choice of the Igbo nation in the forthcoming presidential election.
In a swift reaction, the deputy national publicity secretary of the body, Mr Chuks Ibegbu, described Okwukwu’s claim as a huge lie, saying that the secretary-general might be expressing a minority view on the issue.
The apex-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, according to a statement issued by the president-general, Chief Nnia Nwodo, after its Ime-Obi meeting at the weekend, at Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu, the Enugu State capital,said after appraisal of the manifestoes of the various political parties contesting the polls, endorsed the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, essentially because of the party’s restructuring plan for the country.
Meanwhile, the Ohanaeze secretary general has told newsmen that there was never a meeting of Ime-Obi Ohanaeze where the body endorsed any presidential candidate as the choice for the Igbo nation, stating that the organisation would soon convene a meeting to take such a decision.
“The Ohanaeze Ndigbo never held a meeting of the Ime-Obi where we endorsed any candidate for the 2019 presidential election.
“Secondl, If we are holding the Ime-Obi meeting, we normally inform members before hand and in the meeting we also set up a communiqué committee that drafts the resolution or communiqué arising from the meeting which will be presented before the general house for ratification.
“No such thing was done and anybody purporting to have had any Imo-Obi meeting where Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was endorsed as our presidential candidate are on their own,” he said.
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Okwukwu however announced that it would be in the interest of Ndigbo to support President Muhammadu Buhari for his second term in office, asserting that the decision would be the most possible route for the emergence of Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction.
“When we meet at the Ime-Obi meeting we shall choose a candidate and you know that we have Igbo sons and daughters from Igbo land who are contesting the election and we are not limiting it to Igbo candidates.
“But in the interest of Ndigbo we should support President Muhammadu Buhari for the second term and that is the only way to get to our promise Land,” he added.
Meanwhile, the deputy national secretary of Ohanaeze, Mr Ibegbu said that it was wrong for any member of the Ime-Obi who has a contrary view to the endorsement to deny the decision in public saying that the secretary-general was in attendance at the Ime-Obi meeting, and expressed doubt if he would deny the meeting.
Mr. Ibegbu stated that even though there was dissenting view among the Ime-Obi members when the endorsement issue was tabled, majority view, however favoured the endorsement of the PDP presidential candidate, adding that anybody who is holding a contrary view belongs to the minority on the issue.
He further stated that the Ime-Obi meeting was not held before the slated time saying that the meeting was earlier slated for 11 am, but, was shifted to 4 pm when information came from the members of the All Progressives Congress( APC) that President Muhammadu Buhari was visiting to commission Zik’s Mausoleum and later to flag off his presidential campaign in Onitsha and Enugu respectively, adding that the meeting eventually started at about 5pm on that day, just to enable APC members attend.
He further stated that the meeting did not last for too long because “ there was only one agenda for the meeting. And it was about which presidential candidate to be endorsed. And even though some members said we should not adopt any candidate, the majority said we should, and, it was the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar that was favoured.”
“So, it is wrong for anybody who has contrary view to start saying it in the public. Majority will always have their way while the minority will only have their say”, Ibegbu noted.
