Ohaneze Declares Support for Atiku, Obi

The South East’s apex socio-cultural organisation ,Ohaneze Ndigbo has endorsed the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar in the next month’s general election.

In a statement issued on Thursday by the group’s President-General, John Nnia Nwodo, urged Igbos to vote massively for the Atiku/Obi ticket.

Nwodo said the decision to support Atiku was reached after an assessment of the campaign manifesto of the former vice president and its implications for the South East geopolitical region.

Read full statement here;

PREAMBLE

In its collective search for a polity that is just, egalitarian and inclusive, the Ime Obi Ohaneze Ndi Igbo met today Thursday 24 January, 2019 at the Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu, to further deliberate on the future of Ndigbo in the chequred 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 contesting 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:

1. That Ohaneze remains the apex socio-cultural organization that works for the interest of the Igbo in and outside Nigeria. It attempts to aggregate the views of all other Igbo platforms;
2. 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;
3. 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 high-level US officials;
4. 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 ratify the decision reached at the Ohaneze National Executive Committee (NEC)meeting held in Enugu on Tuesday 22 January, 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.
5. Ohaneze urges Ndigbo to see their PVCs as their most potent tool to ensure a restructured polity and for a better society.
6. The meeting further called on the international community to help to ensure a free and credible 2019 elections in Nigeria; and
7. Finally, Ohaneze urges all Igbo to come out and vote and to protect their votes.

Signed:
John Nnia Nwodo
President-General Ohaneze Ndigbo World Wide
24th January 2019