Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has described the presidential candidate if the Labour Party, Peter Obi, as a national movement.
Ohanaeze spoke while hailing provincial bodies, Afenifere and the Middle-Belt Forum, for endorsing Obi.
This was contained in a statement issued, by the Secretary General of organisation, Okechukwu Isiguzoro. He said there was an orchestrated plot by an unnamed South East governor to procure a fake endorsement for an infamous presidential candidate.
Ohanaeze advised the Igbo governor against using monetary inducements and fake appointments “to lure a section of Ohanaeze chieftains to endorse an unpopular presidential candidate ahead of the popular choice of Nigerians, Obi.”
It warned that the desperation of the said South East governor would sink him politically.
The statement continued: “His stock in trade is to always go contrary to the popular position of Ndigbo, because he’s a poor student of history. His plan to use the brand name of Ohanaeze to play dirty politics for an unpopular candidate has been discovered, and he should change or be retired from active politics. No amount of persuasion and inducement will reverse the position of Ndigbo in 2023.
“On this note, Ohanaeze warns the said governor and few chieftains of Ohanaeze not to use our name for monetary endorsement of any presidential candidate.
“Ndigbo and Nigerians should know that any future endorsement by a section of Ohanaeze is imaginary and counterfeit, coined by adversaries of the people.
“Surely, this time around, all intending Igbo political saboteurs will be disgraced at the polls. Igbo position for 2023 is in line with Afenifere and Middle-Belt Forum that Obi is Nigeria’s trend and movement for taking back Nigeria by Nigerians in 2023.”
Ohanaeze stressed that “Obi is not an Igbo Presidency movement, but a Nigerian project anchored on capacity, competence, and character.
“This clarification has become necessary for posterity’s sake. Ohanaeze joins other ethnic groups like Afenifere, Middle-Belt Forum and Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) to insist that the rotational presidency between North and South is a must for equity and a Southern president should succeed President Buhari in 2023.”