From Magnus Eze, Enugu
Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) Mr. Peter Obi, has the full backing of apex Igbo organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, as he battles to retrieve his mandate from the February 25 election.
Igbo Elders Consultative Forum (IECF) stated this, yesterday, in reaction to a trending statement in the media that “Obi was not destined to be President of Nigeria in 2023.” The statement was credited to a Ambassador Tony Chiemelu Obizoba, who claimed to be the Director-General, Implementation and Strategic Planning, of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo General Assembly Worldwide.
Chairman of the elders forum and former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife and secretary, Prof. Charles Nwekeaku, described Obizoba’s statement as fallacious, outrageous, insipid, reckless, irresponsible, and unacceptable to the Igbo in general and the Igbo Elders Consultative Forum in particular.
The forum said Ohanaeze does not have any officer of a committee that answers a Director-General and that the official spokesman of the body remains its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Alex Ogbonna.
Urging that Obizoba should not be taken seriously by any sane person, the elders declared that their position alongside Ohanaeze was that the February 25 election was a total failure and great embarrassment to Nigeria since it failed all major indices of free, fair and credible elections.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) woefully failed to meet up the standards it sets for itself, as the entire exercise was a charade hence no reputable and credible organization as the Ohaneze Worldwide would rush to congratulate any person thrown up by such fraudulent, deceitful, unpatriotic and heinous day light robbery euphemistically called election.
“Mr Peter Obi has told the world that he is prepared to prove to the court and the world at large that he won the presidential election of February 25, 2023 and is poised to reclaim his stolen mandate. The Igbo Elders Consultative Forum, in liaison with the Ohaneze worldwide, clearly identifies with Mr Peter Obi, as we enjoin other progressive Nigerians and credible institutions to give him necessary support for evolution of a new and functional Nigeria that all of us will be proud to call a home. Mr. Obi and Senator Ahmed have performed so well by winning elections in different parts of the country, thereby facilitating the unification of Nigeria, and deserve the commendation of every progressive Nigerian; hence the reckless vituperation of Mr Obizoba should be discarded and cast into the dust bin of history,” the Igbo elders said.
