The Ohanaeze Ndigbo has directed Igbos to cast their votes for
the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku
Abubakar, in the February 16 presidential election.
The endorsement of the former vice president was announced by the President General of the Igbo socio-political group, John Nwodo,
in a statement released on Thursday, January 24, 2019 after a meeting
of the Ime Obi, the group’s highest decision-making council.
He noted that the decision was carefully made
in consideration of many issues, especially in regards to the plans of
candidates on the restructuring of the federation.
Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo President, John Nwodo
The group also noted that Atiku’s choice of Peter Obi, a former Anambra State governor, as his running mate gives the Igbos an opportunity for inclusivity in government.
The statement read, “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 Ohenaeze 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.
“Ohanaeze
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.
“In consideration of the above
and other relevant existential factors pertaining to the treatment of
the Igbo in our polity, the Ime Obi Ohanaeze, therefore, hereby ratifies
the decision reached at the Ohanaeze 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.”
The group urged Igbos to use their voters’ cards as a potent tool to ensure “a restructured polity and for a better society”.
2019 presidential race
The Ohanaeze’s endorsement of Atiku is a boost as he goes toe-to-toe with incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the polls next month.
They both face competition from 70 other candidates including Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), Fela Durotoye of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), and Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC).
Others are Tope Fasua of the Abundance Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), Eunice Atuejide of the National Interest Party (NIP), Adesina Fagbenro-Byron of the Kowa Party (KP), Chike Ukaegbu of the Advanced Allied Party (AAP), Hamza Al-Mustapha of the People’s Party of Nigeria (PPN), Obadiah Mailafia of the African Democratic Congress (ADC),Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim of Peoples Trust (PT) and many more.