Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the top Igbo socio-cultural organization has said it is withholding sending a congratulatory message to Nigeria's president-elect Bola Tinubu and his deputy Kashim Shettima, for now, because "we cannot begin to talk about the president-elect when we are sure that the wrong person has been declared the winner."
In an interview with Sunday Vanguard, the
National Publicity Secretary, of Ohanaeze Mr. Alex Ogbonnia, said the group welcomed Obi's position to challenge the outcome of the 2023 presidential election in Court, adding that the exercise was full of irregularities when compared with past ones.
“The election was marred by a lot of irregularities that have not been recorded in history. To that extent, we endorse the speech made by Obi concerning the 2023 election.
“Obi also highlighted the irregularities, he highlighted that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, gave us false impressions about how they will conduct the election, saying he is going to court to recover his mandate.
Ogbonnia, expressed the group's confidence in Obi's ability to reclaim his mandate at the courts, saying, "I do not doubt Obi’s capacity to recover his mandate because he had done so in Anambra. By God’s grace, by the time he recovers the mandate; everything in the scenario will change.
“So, we cannot begin to talk about the president-elect when we are sure that the wrong person has been declared the winner.
"Obi said he has evidence that he won the election. To that extent, it is difficult for us to begin to embrace Tinubu as president-elect,” Ogbonna stated.
Similarly, Chief Goddy Uwazurike,
a former President of an Igbo think tank group, Aka Ikenga said that Ohaneze and other sociocultural groups that endorsed Peter Obi's candidacy cannot be expected to dictate events: “Ohanaeze endorsed Obi and so did Afenifere and the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum.
“If all of them endorsed Peter and he is fighting, then they can’t be the clams dictating what to do or what not to do to the president-elect.
“All they can do right now is to wish him (Obi) well.
“Formally, Ohanaeze has rejected the results,” Uwazuruike noted.
Politics and Opinion.
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