With few days before the presidential election, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide issued a statement that aroused joy in the camp of Peter Obi.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the apex socio-cultural organisation of the Igbo people, in its statement on Wednesday, said its endorsement of Obi, Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), remains sacrosanct.
The Organisation’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Alex Ogbonnia, who issued the statement expressed dismay over the recent endorsement of the standard bearer of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, by the women wing of Ohanaeze.
According to him, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, presided over by the Secretary-General, Amb. Okey Emuchay, on Feb. 17, 2023, reaffirmed its irrevocable support for Mr Peter Obi.
He said the stand was in resonance with the right-thinking patriotic Nigerians and indeed the global community that Peter Obi stands out as the “most suitable, competent, visionary, inspiring and energetic presidential candidate for the forthcoming general election”.
He added that Emuchay expressed deep shock that while the Afenifere, Pan-Niger-Delta Forum (PANDEF) Middle Belt, the Muslim Clerics had united in the Obi/Datti movement, the Ohanaeze Women Wing would embark on a mission completely at variance with the interest and position of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Ogbonnia said: “The National Executive Committee (NEC) of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, presided over by our Secretary-General, Amb. Okey Emuchay sat at the National Secretariat, No 7 Park Avenue, GRA, Enugu on Friday, February 17, 2023, and reaffirmed its irrevocable support for Mr Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
“Obi is not only an exceptional convergence of history, equity and public consciousness, he is also a moral edifice, purveyor of excellence, a quintessential public administrator and the embodiment of the new Nigeria that all Nigerians crave.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo vehemently dissociates itself from such an unwarranted, unconscionable and subversive endorsement of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) by its women wing.”
He, however, warned that Ohanaeze Ndigbo would not condone acts of insubordination and sabotage from any of its officers and affiliates.
He expressed profound gratitude to the youths, courageous elder statesmen, market women, the clergy, clerics, artisans, Nigerian students all over the country and the international community for their invaluable support to Mr Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed.
He urged Nigerians to ignore all forms of distractions and troops out en-masse on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, to discharge their civic duties in favour of Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed of the LP as the only vessel to achieve a better Nigeria.
