Ohanaeze disowns declaration on Atiku, flays impostors

• CNPP lauds PDP on presidential primaries
• ‘Why Atiku’s emergence marks the end of APC’

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, said it is yet to speak on the presidential primary that produced former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

It, therefore, urged the public to discountenance a statement circulating in the media, issued by a group, headlined: ‘Ohanaeze Ndigbo blasts Atiku, vows to work against his PDP candidacy in 2023 polls’ and ‘Atiku will never become Nigeria’s president, his presidential campaign would be rejected in the southeast region.’

National Publicity Secretary, Alex Ogbonnia, said the statement did not emanate from Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

He said: “It is imperative to inform that those behind the fake press release are mischief-makers, impostors, charlatans and unscrupulous social climbers who have shamelessly leeched on the invaluable footprints of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to issue press releases for narrow, perverse and illicit pecuniary interests. It is the unwholesome activities of such maladjusted, impish scaremongers that have been the bane of Igbo cohesion.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural body, led by Ambassador Prof. George Obiozor, has not issued any press statement on the candidacy of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

“Ohanaeze waits with keen interest, for the full outcome of the ongoing primaries by all the political parties before it can issue a statement, with respect to the Igbo position on the 2023 general election.

PDP candidate for the 2023 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (second right); Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State (third right); former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose (right); former Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (middle) and other PDP chieftains during Atiku’s visit to Wike, in Abuja…yesterday. PHOTO NAN<br />

MEANWHILE, Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has commended PDP for the successful conduct of its presidential primaries, urging other political parties to emulate the ideal.

CNPP, in a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, said anyone or group may quarrel with personalities but not a democratic process.

He said: “That’s the only way our democracy will evolve when political parties stick to the rules of the game. Therefore, as the umbrella body of all registered political parties and political associations in the country, CNPP congratulates the PDP for the smooth conduct of her recently concluded presidential primary.

“We urge all other political parties to emulate the rancour-free PDP primary election and do the needful to provide the Nigerian electorate with candidates who emerge through the credible democratic process.

IN a related development, the Chairman, Atiku Abubakar Town Hall Meetings, Dare ‘Glintstone’ Akinniyi, has boasted that the emergence of the former Vice President as PDP’s flag bearer will mark the end of All Progressives Congress (APC) and reposition Nigeria on the path to prosperity.

Akinniyi who disclosed this in a statement, yesterday, said: “The emergence of Atiku is the right step in the right direction, and I am glad that the delegates got it right. He is the only candidate that is capable of sending APC packing and liberating our country.

“Atiku is a unifier and that is what Nigeria needs at this time. Never in the history of our country have we been this polarised and disunited, with our unity seriously threatened. So, we actually need a man who has the capacity and empathy to unite Nigeria, and Atiku is that man.”

Akinniyi, who is also the Chief Strategist of AtikuKawai Media Group, added: “Atiku is aware of the daunting challenges facing Nigeria. The willpower and empathy required to fix Nigeria will need a leader who knows both the historical and contemporary issues of our generations.

“Nigeria, and indeed Nigerians, will be safe in Atiku’s hands. And he can halt the slide and redirect our collective resources to build a prosperous country.”