BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
Pan Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has clarified its stand on Thursday’s emergence of Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the running mate of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar.
Ohanaeza had on Thursday in a congratulatory message to the governor, signed by its Publicity Secretary Alex Ogbonnia, expressed joy that he was chosen for the position.
However, in a statement on Friday, by the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum, with one of the signatures in the jointly signed statement being Ohanaeze president, Ambassador George Obiozor, they rejected his emergence as Atiku’s running mate, describing it as “a betrayal of the highest order,” while calling him a traitor and betrayer.
Others that signed the statement include SMBLF leader Chief (Dr.) Edwin Clark who also doubles as leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF); Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and President-General, Middle-Belt Forum, Dr. Dru Bitrus.
According to the statement, the group recalled that the Forum which had been agitating for a President from the Southern part of the country, was disgusted at Okowa, who is the Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum, and who hosted the first meeting of the Southern Governors Forum both of the PDP and the All Progressives Congress on May 11, 2021 in Asaba,where it was agreed that no southerner should accept the VP position, turned round to accept it.
“The Southern Governors later met again in Lagos, on July 5, where they reaffirmed their decision, and again in Enugu, on September 16, to restate the call that the presidency should rotate to the south in 2023,” the statement added.
In a bid to make the group’s position clear, Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze Publicity Secretary, told The Point that although someone from the South, particularly the South-East as President in 2023 was their demand, the situation where a political party decided to pick a Norther as its flag bearer, meant they had to pick a Southerner as the running mate.
He also explained that it was a tradition that when their tribesman attains a feat and is celebrating it, they have to join him in celebration, adding that it was normal for SMBLF to condemn his emergence, as the positions of a group within a larger group may not always be the same position with that of the larger group.
Although Obiozor joined in signing the statement condemning Okowa’s emergence, Ogbonnia said, “Ohanaeze’s position is that any Igbo anywhere is our son. Sometimes, there should be a departure between the Central South-South Middle Belt’s position and Ohanaeze’s position. We are united in one agenda but sometimes, you will see some little minor differences. An Igbo is Ohanaeze’s son, and we owe him a duty to say congratulations anytime he is jubilating for anything.
“The point that is very clear is that Atiku is not the mandate of only the Northerners that he’s enjoying. He’s enjoying the mandate of the Northerners, Southerners, Middle-Belt, everywhere. The way it is now, this is Nigeria, and in that context, having emerged from the North, definitely, he must look for a Southerner as his running mate.
“What Ohanaeze did before was that nobody should aspire for the position of Vice-Presidency, or to begin to manoeuvre for it. But when they have tried for the first position and it didn’t work, then there’s nothing that can be done, a northerner must then take a Southerner as vice, that’s a different ball game.
On the allegation of the SMBLF in the statement that Okowa “spent extensive sum of money to lobby for the position,” Ogbonnia said, “If he was doing underground manoeuvering, I wouldn’t know that, but the position is that since a Northerner has emerged in one party, he’s bound to take a Southerner.
“A Southerner has emerged in Tinubu for example, he must take a Northerner. A Southerner has emerged in Peter Obi, he must take a Northerner, that is Nigeria for you. A lot of things have gone wrong, that is where we’ve found ourselves,” he noted further.
He also condemned Secretary-General Okechukwu Isiguzoro issuing statements on behalf of the South-Eastern group, calling him an impostor and advising the public to disregard whatever he says. He reiterated that Ambassador Okey Emuchay MFR is the authentic Secretary-General of the group.
“For Isiguzoro, he’s not the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is Ambassador Okey Emuchay, MFR. Isiguzoro has issued statements severally to inform that the man is an impostor and an impersonator. However, Nigerians by now, are supposed to be aware that Isiguzoro is an impersonator, he’s not a member (of Ohanaeze). You don’t take him seriously, he’s on his own,” he asserted.
