Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The youth wing of the Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has said that the former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, is not fit to represent the Igbo as a presidential candidate in 2023.
National Publicity Secretary of the group, Chief Osmond Nkeoma, disclosed this to Sunday Sun in Owerri yesterday. According to him, the former governor did not record any achievement while in office as a governor to justify his rating and adoption as a presidential aspirant or candidate by Ohanaeze.
Nkeoma posited that the 2023 presidency was a serious project to Ohanaeze and Ndigbo and should never be toiled with.
“Okorocha’s eight years tenure was a monumental waste to the people of Imo; we cannot afford to waste that as a nation. He is not fit to be the president of Igbo extraction. Let him open the flyovers that he built for the people to pass, let him rebuild the China roads that he built, and we can start talking from there,” Nkeoma said.
He, however, identified a former governor of Anambra State and Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party,(PDP) Peter Obi and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) candidate, Okonjo Iweala as good representatives from the southeast to vie for the position.
On Governor Dave Umahi’s cross over to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from PDP, the Ohanaeze scribe described his move as a welcome development, adding, “what we need is the potential of the individual as long as he identifies with the two major parties in the country, he is accepted.”
Continuing, Nkeoma said: “We need not put all our eggs in one basket, but we have to line up our best. Obi, Okonjo-Iweala and Umahi are good products, this is the stand of the youths.”
He started further that the Ohanaeze youth body would not support the presidential ambition of Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, describing his purported interest as a distraction to Ndigbo.
“We cannot support Wike this time whether he is contesting or not, we see his rumoured intention as a distraction, He said he is from Niger Delta, so that should not concern us, what we are doing is in the best interest of Ndigbo,” Nkeoma said.
Also, another youth group known as the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COESYL) has warned the Rivers State governor over his utterances against Governor Umahi’s defection to APC. According to the group, Umahi has the right to belong to any party of his choice.
“Wike is just the governor of only one state and should be mindful of his utterance towards the people of Southeast. Governor Umahi has the right to move from PDP to APC and Wike should respect that, Nkeoma said.