Punch
The pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndgibo Worldwide, has said it will not play the second fiddle to anyone by accepting the position of vice-president from any party. It said any aspirant who does that would lose the support of the region.
The spokesperson for the group, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday, said, “We have made it known to all the political gladiators from Igboland that we don’t want any of them to accept to be vice-president.
“Even when Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State was called to be the chairman of the zoning committee, we imposed it on him that his committee should not in any way zone the vice presidential position to the South-East. Any aspirant that wants to be a deputy from the Igbo descent will not get our support.
“Any report that any of the aspirants wants to accept to be the deputy is just an imagination. Ohanaeze has made it clear that no political aspirant should get involved in being the vice president because we are not second-class citizens. We cannot accept things like that.”
He advised aspirants from the region to remain focused, courageous and not be afraid of any heavyweight from another region.
“Igbo presidency is God’s own plan. We have no fear of anyone who is not from the South-East region that has declared their intentions. The truth is that 2023 is the turn of the Igbo and it is clear to everybody, even the international community. The conscience of anyone trying to jeopardise this would be telling them ab initio that they are embarking on an unjust journey. Equity demands that this is the turn of the Igbo and all hands are on deck to actualise this.”
Asked about the plans of the region on how they would clinch the seat, he said, “Nobody will tell you about their plans going into a battle. We cannot speak about the strategy in public but there is a plan in place to achieve our aim.”
