By Chukwudi Nweje, Lagos
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has berated the Igbo-speaking community in Lagos over its call on former Lagos Governor and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to run for the Nigerian Presidency in 2023.
It described the Igbo-speaking community as ‘a renegade self-serving group that does not represent the interest of Ndigbo but are out to feather their nests.’
Alex Chiedozie Ogbonnia, National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, in a statement on Tuesday, reiterated that Igbos remain committed to their quest for a Nigerian President of Igbo background, saying it is ‘non-negotiable’.
‘Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide condemns in the strongest terms the condescending actions of the Igbo-speaking community Lagos. This fringe group represents only themselves and their pecuniary interest. We advise the general public to discountenance the group who are nothing but self-serving elements out to feather their nests. We want to make it abundantly clear that the Igbo quest for the presidency in 2023 is non-negotiable. We will seek the support and understanding of all the various ethnic groups and geo-political zones in the country in this regard,’ the statement read.
Ohanaeze said the principle of zoning should be respected and called on politicians to respect the rotation agreement.
‘The principle of zoning between the various components of the constituent units was a major element in the rotation of power between the North and the South. This agreement was reached at the onset of the present cycle of Nigerian democracy. Nigerians adopted a rotation of the presidency between the Northern and the Southern parts of the country. Every Nigerian patriot knows that 2023 is the turn of the Igbo to produce a president for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As it stands, the Igbo have lent supports to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr Goodluck Jonathan from the South West and South-South respectively. In 2023, the presidency should rotate to the South and by all standards of zoning, conscience and political arithmetic, it is the turn of the South-East,’ Ohanaeze added.
Ogbonnia said that Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide under the leadership of Prof George Obiozor remains committed to the 2023 project and that the
‘The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide led by Prof George Obiozor, a diplomat and intellectual of world renown, is highly committed to the realisation of a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction in 2023. Therefore, a great doubt is placed on the authenticity and credibility of an Igbo that pledges the wrath that goes after renegades who work against the Igbo spirit,’ the group’s spokesman said.