Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has applauded Southeast aspirants in Tuesday’s All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary for standing for justice and defence of Igbo, while berating the winner, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for opposing power shift to the region.
Secretary-General Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro said in a statement on Wednesday that Tinubu was chosen as the APC flag bearer in a corrupt process, adding that the former Lagos Governor’s emergence as APC presidential candidate “is a national catastrophe and calamity, considering the enormity of the baggage he is burdened with”.
“It was a heroic outing for Southeast presidential aspirants like Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Sen. Ken Nnamani, Sen. Rochas Okorocha, Governor Dave Umahi and the boycott of Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, whose absence was heroic. APC’s survival at the polls remains doubtful and the Southeast presidency denial will come with consequences and will continue to strengthen the Biafra agitation.
“After due reflections and considerations, considering the just concluded presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ohanaeze Ndigbo is convinced that the emergence of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the party’s flag bearer is a national catastrophe and calamity.
“Apart from his integrity issues and his long-running battle with EFCC over allegations of corruption, especially his alleged siphoning of Lagos state funds through phony companies such as Beta Sigma, long after leaving office as Governor. Again, during the 2019 Elections, bullion vans bearing raw cash were sighted in his Bourdillon, Ikoyi, Lagos residence, ostensibly for financial inducement and corruption of the electoral process.
“Again, his identity, age, and academic records are shrouded in controversy. To worsen an already terrible situation, Tinubu is sick. Even during the APC primary, he needed the support of nearby security personnel so as not to fall flat while trying to stand up and his hands were shaking terribly.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo salutes Igbo presidential aspirants in both the APC and the PDP for standing firm to the end, in the face of utter betrayal by both parties. Indeed, the usually calm Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu appropriately captured the mood of Ndigbo, especially the South East when he asked a very pertinent question while speaking at the APC primary, “where is the justice?”
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo salutes the Southern and Middle Belt Alliance (SAMBA) for insisting that it is the turn of the South-East, come 2023. Elder statesmen like Afenifere leader Pa Ayo Adebanjo, Niger Delta leader, Pa Edwin Clark, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Middle Belt leader, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, etc. for rising above ethnic sentiments to be true heroes of Nigerian democracy.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the 2023 presidential election shall make or mar Nigeria, if Nigerians fail to rise above ethno-religious sentiments to ‘take back Nigeria’ from the vicious grip of the kleptomaniac politicians,” the Ohanaeze scribe said.
