2023 Presidency: Ohanaeze Condemns PDP’s ‘Deception’, Considers APC Alignment

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Thursday, described the Bala Mohammed-led committee which recommended that the party’s presidential ticket be thrown open to all zones and not given to Southeast ahead of the 2023 presidency as ‘most despicable, unreflective and unconscionable’.

The Igbo socio-cultural group made this known in a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Chief Alex Chiedozie Ogbonnia, and made available to THE WHISTLER in Enugu.

According to the statement, “Ohanaeze views the report by the Bala Mohammed-led committee as most despicable, unreflective and unconscionable. It is very worrisome that some highly placed Nigerians who have benefited so much from the unity of the country would be inclined to decisions and actions that will further inflame the passions of the patient but aggrieved part of the country.”

It would be recalled that the PDP Committee on the Review of the 2019 General Elections, headed by Alh Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi State, recommended that the party should allow all aspirants from all parts of the country to contest for its 2023 presidential ticket. Although the committee acknowledged that “many people think that for fairness and equity, the Northeast and Southeast geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency should be given special consideration in choosing the presidential stand-bearer of the party for the 2023 elections”, it however resolved that, “every Nigerian from every part of the country should be given the opportunity to choose the best candidate through a credible primary election, as a way of institutionalizing a merit-based leadership recruitment process for the country”.

Reacting, Ohanaeze noted that, “For the avoidance of doubt, Nigerians agreed on rotation of presidency between the North and the South; in which case it is the turn of the South after the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari. For clarity purposes, both the Southwest and the Southsouth had both taken their turns in the persons of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan respectively. It is rather very unpatriotic and a trifle on the sensibilities of the Igbo for the committee to even suggest the rotation of the presidency to the Northeast in the first instance and open to every part of Nigeria as a major slight.”

The group regretted that Southeast has suffered in the current dispensation because of” the outcome of the Igbo support to the PDP since 1999″, adding that, “It is on record that in 1999, the Igbo were in hock with the PDP through which Chief Olusegun Obasanjo emerged the president of Nigeria; same in 2003 and the subsequent elections in Nigeria. On the other hand, the Igbo had invested much political capital in the PDP only to be betrayed by its apparent lack in principles. The leadership of the PDP is advised to retract the comment made by Alh Bala Mohammed and countermand the content of the obnoxious committee report in the interest of the party.

“Let it be known that Ndigbo do not wax so eloquent on political parties. The Igbo are bound to advertise the party that caters to the interest of our people. It is instructive that Senator Ali Ndume, a chieftain of the All Peoples Congress (APC), is among the prominent northerners that canvass for zoning the Nigerian presidency to the Southeast for the 2023 presidential election. Other prominent APC chieftains are highly committed to the realisation of this project, and we will be very delighted to work with them in the overall interest of Ndigbo.”

Chief Ogbonnia further said the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, led by Ambassador Professor George Obiozor, was committed to a Nigerian president of an Igbo extraction, adding that, “It should be noted that the Igbo network transcends geographical space and the enormous Igbo goodwill and resources across the world will be mobilized to achieve this equity-inspired project. In the words of Obiozor, if you deny the Igbo justice, be ready for righteous indignation, diminishing authority, denial of legitimacy of governance and loyalty. The Igbo faith and confidence is based on what you deny the Igbo in the morning; they can give to themselves in the evening through hard work and perseverance. We are undaunted.”