From Magnus Eze, Enugu
Reasons have emerged on the reluctance by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide in frontally endorsing the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, ahead next year’s general elections.
This is as Bitrus Pogu, leader of Middle Belt Forum (MBF), yesterday, said his people are supporting the Obi/Datti ticket because they are young, agile, and have all it takes to rescue Nigeria from the doldrums. He added that Obi fits into the permutation and desire of his region for a President from the South East.
He disclosed that once the campaigns are declared open, the Middle Belt would unveil Obi/Datti in Jos, Plateau State, where they would let the world know that Obi is their candidate.
An allegation went viral during the week that the apex Igbo body had allegedly demanded payments from one of Obi’s promoters, Kennedy Iyere, as a condition to support a Nigerian President from the South East.
Ohanaeze had in the buildup to the 2019 general elections under the leadership of its former President General, Chief Nnia Nwodo, endorsed the standard bearer of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar with Obi as his running mate.
Saturday Sun reliably gathered from Ohanaeze chieftains and Igbo leaders that the body would not want to pigeonhole Obi as a sectional candidate.
National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia said Iyere’s claim was the most fallacious, mendacious and callous of all the falsehoods aimed at tarnishing the image of the Igbo as the Judas category that values money more than human conscience.
Ogbonnia noted that Ohanaeze and several other Igbo activists and interest groups such as Nzuko Umunna, had taken the advocacy for a Nigerian President of South East origin to all parts of Nigeria; including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Muhammadu Sa’adu Abubakar III; Chief E K Clarke, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and the British High Commission.
