Ohanaeze Ndigbo meets, endorses Atiku/Obi ticket

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday ended weeks of speculation on the 2019 presidential project as it resolved to support the aspiration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Mr. Peter Obi.

At a well-attended Ime Obi meeting in Enugu, the group said the decision was based on the nomination of her son as running mate and Atiku’s avowed commitment to restructuring of the country.

Ohanaeze stated in a seven-point communiqué signed by its President-General, Nnia Nwodo, that Atiku’s restructuring stance agrees with its Awka, Anambra State Declaration f last year on the subject matter.

The document reads in part: “In its collective search for a polity that is just, egalitarian and inclusive, the Ime Obi Ohaneze Ndi Igbo met today (yesterday) at the Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu to further deliberate on the future of Ndigbo in the cheqeured history of a beleaguered country.

“After a critical and dispassionate appraisal of the issues and the visible fault lines in our polity, including the analysis of the election manifestos of the various parties, especially with regards to the restructuring of the federation and continued relevance of our people in the Nigerian geopolitical space, the meeting resolved as follows:

“That Ohaneze remains the apex socio-cultural organisation that works for the interest of the Igbo in and outside Nigeria. It attempts to aggregate the views of all other Igbo platforms.

“Ohaneze notes particularly that a major political party (PDP) by the nomination of our son, Peter Obi as the vice presidential candidate, has given Ndigbo an opportunity for inclusivity. Ndigbo must seize the moment.

“That the presidential candidate of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has made an avowed commitment to restructuring of the federation and reconfirmed same during his recent visit to the United States in his meetings with high-level US officials.

It went on: “In consideration of the above and other relevant existential factors pertaining to the treatment of the Igbo in our polity, the Ime Obi Ohaneze, therefore, hereby ratifies the decision reached at the Ohaneze National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held in Enugu on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 to adopt the Atiku Abubakar/ Peter Obi ticket in the 2019 presidential election.

Ime Obi therefore endorses and embraces fully this ticket without equivocation, especially with regards to the position of Ndigbo at the Awka Declaration, which insisted on a complete restructuring of the Nigerian polity.

“Ohaneze urges Ndigbo to see their PVCs as their most potent tool to ensure a restructured polity and for a better society.”