By Ayo Kehinde
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has refuted reports that it asked Peter Obi to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race.
A faction of the organisation in a statement signed last week by Okechukwu Isiguzoro, its Deputy President General and Thompson Ohia, the National Spokesman, had called on Obi to shelve his 2027 presidential ambition, stating that with the prevailing political landscape, it would be impossible for him to unseat Tinubu in 2027.
However, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, under the leadership of Senator John Azuta Mbata, in a statement signed on Tuesday, by the National Publicity Secretary, Ezechi Chukwu, described the claims as acts of mischief by “street urchins.”
Chukwu noted that the statement was the handiwork of a group of “clandestine starving street urchins who parade a phantom, ludicrous brown-envelope Ohanaeze, with POS as their address.”
He emphasised that Ohanaeze Ndigbo, under the leadership of credible figures such as Senator John Azuta Mbata (President-General), Prince Okey Nwadinobi (Deputy President-General), and Emeka Sibeudu (Secretary-General), could not have issued such an “ignominious” statement.
The organisation urged the media and the public to disregard statements from “incurable mercenaries unconscionably parading the Ohanaeze brand to execute the pecuniary bidding of their political paymasters.”
The statement read in part: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has been alerted to a misleading report circulating on social media alleging that the apex Igbo body warned Mr Peter Obi against contesting the 2027 presidential election. It also claimed that Ohanaeze cautioned the North against backing his candidacy.
“We wish to categorically state that such a mischief-driven and misleading statement did not emanate from the dignified apex Igbo body.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo is committed to the wellbeing of the Igbo nation and national development through justice, fairness, and equity. We remain non-partisan and have not taken any position on the 2027 presidential election or endorsed any candidate.”
