Ahead of next month's presidential election, the apex
Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Thursday in Enugu insisted
that it has not endorsed any of the candidates seeking the country's topmost
position.
The organisation specifically denied endorsing the presidential
candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Ohanaeze Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the
organisation, Mr. Chuks Ibegbu, who spoke during a media briefing to mark the
second anniversary of the current executive of the organisation led by Chief
Nnia Nwodo ruled out the possibility of endorsing any candidate for the
election.
Ibegbu said the clarification was in response to misconceptions
on the event of November 14, 2018, where some Igbo leaders endorsed the
candidacy of Atiku Abubakar for presidency.
Some Igbo leaders had during a meeting in Enugu
attended by Atiku and the national leaders of the PDP including the Senate
President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, endorsed Atiku.
Ibegbu said the endorsement was done by the friends of
Atiku, adding that the organisation had not endorsed any particular candidate.
He said the organisation needed to be circumspect, “as
our children are in all the political parties.
“It is erroneous to say that we endorsed Atiku.
Ohaneze Ndigbo did not endorse anybody. That meeting at Nike Lake Resort was
organised by friends of Atiku.
“However, due to our peculiar circumstance in the
country, we will identify with candidates that will restructure Nigeria if
voted into power.”
He said the organisation would soon meet to take a
holistic position on the 2019 general election.
“Ohaneze Ndigbo has been canvassing for our people to
identify with candidates that will restructure Nigeria.
“We still stand on that and in the next few days we
shall meet to take a holistic position on the elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, top Zonal leaders of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) on Thursday held a strategic meeting in Enugu to fine-tune their
winning strategies ahead of the general election, even as some prominent party
leaders, including Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, were conspicuously
absent.
Also absent were the former Senate President and
coordinator of President Muhammadu Biuhari campaign council in the South,
Senator Ken Nnamani; former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo;
former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu; Ministers of Labour and
Employment, Foreign Affairs and that of Trade and Investment, Dr. Chris Ngige,
Geoffrey Onyeama and Okechukwu Enelamah respectively.
The convener of the meeting and coordinator of the APC
presidential campaign council in the South East Zone, Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor, said
the meeting was well attended and that governance cannot be ground to a halt
because of politics.
Ikeazor, who is also the Executive Secretary Pension
Transmission Administration (PTAD), stated that the purposes of the meeting was
to harmonise their strategies towards ensuring that the party wins landslide in
the zone in the coming general elections.
“We are less than 40 days to the presidential
election, it has to be a targeted approach. That is why I have called the
meeting for today; it’s a strategy meeting, so that we strategize and harmonize
our strategies in the five eastern states for us to be able to deliver the president
and make a significant change from past elections we have always done.
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