New York [RR] New York–less than two months after the apex socio-political group of the South-East, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, declared its support for the 2011 presidential bid of president Goodluck Jonathan, the organisation has also dissociated itself from a purported agreement by the South-East Consultative Forum (SECF) to align with the North for the next presidential election.
PHOTO: Ohaneze dares Northern political power bloc over Jonathan and the 2011 presidential/general elections, reports alleged.
PHOTO: Ohaneze dares Northern political power bloc over Jonathan and the 2011 presidential/general elections, reports alleged.
While the Ohanaeze Ndigbo is led by Ambassador Raph Uwechue, the SECF is headed by a former Minister of Police Affairs, Chief Simon Okeke.
The SECF has agreed to align with the North for the 2011 presidential election based on the understanding that the South-East will be rewarded with the presidency in 2015.
But speaking in an exclusive interview with the Nigerian Compass on Sunday in Enugu on Friday, the Deputy President-General of Ohanaeze, Chief Gary Nnachi Enwo-Igariwey, said that it would be wrong for some Northern politicians to assume they could offer to give the zone the presidency in 2015, based on the wrong notion that it is a right of the North.
Enwo-Igariwey said that the South-East was an equal partner with the North in the Nigerian project.
Enwo-Igariwey also questioned the agreement reached by the Okeke-led SECF with some Northern leaders without consulting other Igbo sons and daughters.
He added that such an agreement can only be signed by self-seeking individuals who are angling for who would become the vice-president to a Northern presidential candidate.
He accused the group of working against the general interests of Ndigbo.
He argued that it is only someone who does not have equal rights as a stakeholders that can be promised a position like the Northerners have done to the South-East.
He said the Igbos would not beg for the presidency but go for it as a matter of right.
Enwo-Igariwey said, “On the issue of the promise of some Northerners to dash the presidency to Ndigbo in 2015, that is fake and it confirms that those Igbo who signed that agreement do not mean well for the generality of Ndigbo.
“It also shows that they are really agents against their people.
“If we are equal stakeholders in Nigeria, which I know we are, how can some Northern elders promise some Igbo politicians to give us the presidency in 2015 and they went to town with such a promise.
“It is our right as equal stakeholders in Nigeria to be the president in 2015 and justice, fairness and equity demands so.
“So, that should not be a promise that somebody should boast of because it is our right, not a privilege or a promise to have the presidency in 2015.
“After all, we have had several promises in the past that were not kept.
“Dr. Alex Ekwueme was vice-president of this country.
“Why did they not allow him become the president?
“Again, what kind of country will the Northern elders want to handover to an Igbo man in 2015?
“There is no restriction on the tenure of any person coming from the North in 2011 and 2015.
“For the Igbos, 2015 is available and achievable through President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan because he has been sworn in as president the first time.
“If he gets it in 2011 and is sworn in again, he can’t be sworn-in for a third time in 2015.
“However, whichever way it will come, 2015 is our right.
“It should not be taken as promise.
“What we are saying is that we are not going to beg for the presidency.
“We are not beggars and we don’t want anybody to dash us the presidency either.
“And what will be happening in the South-South from 2011 if Jonathan doesn’t get it until 2015 when some these agents have been promised the presidency?
“We don’t want to inherit a war-like country in 2015 because we have so much to lose.
“If there is chaos anywhere in Nigeria, the Igbo have so much to lose because we have properties and businesses everywhere in the country.
“We are the highest investors outside of our environment in this country.
“So, we want peace to reign.
“That country they want to give in 2015 will be on fire and we reject that.
“We seek for a country we will rule in 2015 that will be in peace.
“We in Ohanaeze know we are faced with our brothers who have constituted themselves to opponent and are to do what they are doing.
“But we will stand our ground.
“The fact is that this same group has not said anything about the issues we raised.
“They are only attacking individuals among us.
“They have not addressed the issues we raised.
“Did we lie?
“Is it not true that the South-South has not been there?
“Is it not true too that the South-East has not been there?
“What have we said in our stand that is false?
“As a matter of fact, everybody in Ohanaeze agreed on the position as it was made public concerning the 2011.
“It is amazing that some Igbo politicians based in Abuja can say that it is the turn of the North, when they have not been there.
“May be we have to find out from them actually.
“It could be that they are all angling for this position of vice-president.
“That could be the only thing they want.
“We are not surprised that it is only our people that are attacking us since after we made our statement on the 2011 presidency, a position that is founded on the truth, equity, justice and fairness.
“So it is remarkable to ask what really the Abuja group is looking for if the members are not agents.
“Only agents can do what they are doing to their own people.
“It is only agents cannot see the truth in what we have said.”
It would be recalled that the Okeke-led SECF threatened to mobilise Igbos at home and abroad against the presidential ambition of Jonathan, while also working for a Northern presidency in 2011.
The grouse of the group, according to its spokesman, Chief Chyna Iwuanyanwu, is that the President has failed to dialogue with them but is treating them with contempt.
They therefore decided to support the North for the 2011 presidency and wait for the zone to take its turn in 2015.
Iwuanyanwu, who spoke recently with the Nigerian Compass on Sunday in Abuja, said that members of the group are aware that the minority North and minority South have reached an agreement that after Jonathan’s presidency power will move to the Middle Belt.
Iwuanyanwu also alleged that Chief Edwin Clark has said that Jonathan does not need the support of the Igbos become the president.
According to him, Clark said that what Jonathan needed was the support of the South-West, the Middle Belt and the South-South.
Iwuanyanwu said that before the group took its position, it sought for a meeting with Jonathan, where it was expected the President would tell the members the gains of the South-East if it supports him.
But Jonathan did not respond to the request, Iwuanyanwu alleged.
Meanwhile, those pushing for the North to present a consensus candidate to challenge Jonathan for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2011 election are already having different ideas over when and how the consensus candidate must emerge.
Impeccable sources within the Consensus Candidate Committee set up to screen the four presidential aspirants from the North told the Nigerian Compass that despite the fact that the committee had concluded its task, there appears to be a division within the group over the timing for the presentation of the candidate.
While a section of the group contends that the candidate should be presented now, another faction is of the opinion that the candidate should be announced close to the time the PDP will conduct its presidential primary election.
In fact, sources in the group told the Nigerian Compass that there were already plans to reveal the identity of the favoured candidate last Friday but the decision was delayed due to the current division in the group over the announcement.
Although another source noted that the announcement could come during this week, specifically on Wednesday, but members of the other faction of the group, in a telephone interview with the Nigerian Compass on Saturday, insisted that it should be delayed until further notice.
It was learnt that those who contend that the announcement should be delayed believe that if such announcement is made at a period too distant from the presidential primary election of the PDP, it would make the candidate too vulnerable to attacks from the camp of the President.
The source said, “The committee has concluded its task.
“The only major obstacle now is the division within the group over the timing of the announcement of the consensus candidate.
“There is a school of thought that says that the identity of the candidate should be revealed now.
“But the other side is saying that revealing the identity of the candidate at a time too near to the election date will not unduly expose the candidate to attacks from the Jonathan camp.
“Moreover, it is also believed that keeping the decision under wraps for now will mean that the President’s camp will be dissipating its energy on the four candidates from the North, which is better than identifying who the consensus candidate is and focusing attention on him alone.”
But Jonathan’s camp is not leaving the situation to chance too.
Sources in Jonathan camp told our correspondent on Saturday that the President anticipates the North revealing the consensus candidate close to the time of the PDP primaries.
The source said that the Jonathan/Vice-President Namadi Sambo presidential think tank is already looking at a situation whereby the North will reveal the identity of the consensus candidate on the eve of the PDP presidential primary election and seize the sentiment of the moment to galvanise support for the candidate.
However, the source noted that the Joanthan/Sambo presidential election think tank is already moving towards counteracting the likelihood of such development, explaining that this was why the group has been trying to penetrate the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), with the aim of controlling the loyalty of the group.
The objective of the think tank, the Nigerian Compass learnt, is that in an event that the North presents a consensus candidate on the eve of the election, the NGF could actually come out with a pronouncement that it is against sectional interests as being displayed by the North in relation to the presidential election, a move that is believed will neutralise the ground for the President’s campaign team.
It was also further gathered that it was in anticipation of the move by the Jonathan think tank to seize control of the NGF that the incumbent Chairman of the forum, Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, was retained as chairman.
Sources said that the decision to retain Saraki as the chairman of the forum was taken at a marathon meeting the Kwara State governor and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had some state governors at an undisclosed location in Asokoro, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
The meeting, said to have been put together by a governor from one of the South-South state, lasted for about three hours.
It was said to have started at about 1a.m. and ended around 4a.m.
The source said that the North is aware of the political implication of retaining the control of the NGF and that it was considered that Saraki should continue to retain the chairmanship of the group until the consensus candidate was announced.
The source said, “Both the President’s camp and the Northern elders are already in a battle to control the soul of the NGF.
“For the President’s think tank, the NGF will provide an alternate pressure group to neutralise the effect of the North presenting a consensus candidate on the eve of the election day.
“For the Northern leaders on the other side, it is believed that allowing the President’s camp seize control of the NGF could amount to a big mistake and it was for that reason they mobilised to retain Saraki to continue as the chairman of the group until the consensus candidate is announced.” Nigerian Compass.
The SECF has agreed to align with the North for the 2011 presidential election based on the understanding that the South-East will be rewarded with the presidency in 2015.
But speaking in an exclusive interview with the Nigerian Compass on Sunday in Enugu on Friday, the Deputy President-General of Ohanaeze, Chief Gary Nnachi Enwo-Igariwey, said that it would be wrong for some Northern politicians to assume they could offer to give the zone the presidency in 2015, based on the wrong notion that it is a right of the North.
Enwo-Igariwey said that the South-East was an equal partner with the North in the Nigerian project.
Enwo-Igariwey also questioned the agreement reached by the Okeke-led SECF with some Northern leaders without consulting other Igbo sons and daughters.
He added that such an agreement can only be signed by self-seeking individuals who are angling for who would become the vice-president to a Northern presidential candidate.
He accused the group of working against the general interests of Ndigbo.
He argued that it is only someone who does not have equal rights as a stakeholders that can be promised a position like the Northerners have done to the South-East.
He said the Igbos would not beg for the presidency but go for it as a matter of right.
Enwo-Igariwey said, “On the issue of the promise of some Northerners to dash the presidency to Ndigbo in 2015, that is fake and it confirms that those Igbo who signed that agreement do not mean well for the generality of Ndigbo.
“It also shows that they are really agents against their people.
“If we are equal stakeholders in Nigeria, which I know we are, how can some Northern elders promise some Igbo politicians to give us the presidency in 2015 and they went to town with such a promise.
“It is our right as equal stakeholders in Nigeria to be the president in 2015 and justice, fairness and equity demands so.
“So, that should not be a promise that somebody should boast of because it is our right, not a privilege or a promise to have the presidency in 2015.
“After all, we have had several promises in the past that were not kept.
“Dr. Alex Ekwueme was vice-president of this country.
“Why did they not allow him become the president?
“Again, what kind of country will the Northern elders want to handover to an Igbo man in 2015?
“There is no restriction on the tenure of any person coming from the North in 2011 and 2015.
“For the Igbos, 2015 is available and achievable through President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan because he has been sworn in as president the first time.
“If he gets it in 2011 and is sworn in again, he can’t be sworn-in for a third time in 2015.
“However, whichever way it will come, 2015 is our right.
“It should not be taken as promise.
“What we are saying is that we are not going to beg for the presidency.
“We are not beggars and we don’t want anybody to dash us the presidency either.
“And what will be happening in the South-South from 2011 if Jonathan doesn’t get it until 2015 when some these agents have been promised the presidency?
“We don’t want to inherit a war-like country in 2015 because we have so much to lose.
“If there is chaos anywhere in Nigeria, the Igbo have so much to lose because we have properties and businesses everywhere in the country.
“We are the highest investors outside of our environment in this country.
“So, we want peace to reign.
“That country they want to give in 2015 will be on fire and we reject that.
“We seek for a country we will rule in 2015 that will be in peace.
“We in Ohanaeze know we are faced with our brothers who have constituted themselves to opponent and are to do what they are doing.
“But we will stand our ground.
“The fact is that this same group has not said anything about the issues we raised.
“They are only attacking individuals among us.
“They have not addressed the issues we raised.
“Did we lie?
“Is it not true that the South-South has not been there?
“Is it not true too that the South-East has not been there?
“What have we said in our stand that is false?
“As a matter of fact, everybody in Ohanaeze agreed on the position as it was made public concerning the 2011.
“It is amazing that some Igbo politicians based in Abuja can say that it is the turn of the North, when they have not been there.
“May be we have to find out from them actually.
“It could be that they are all angling for this position of vice-president.
“That could be the only thing they want.
“We are not surprised that it is only our people that are attacking us since after we made our statement on the 2011 presidency, a position that is founded on the truth, equity, justice and fairness.
“So it is remarkable to ask what really the Abuja group is looking for if the members are not agents.
“Only agents can do what they are doing to their own people.
“It is only agents cannot see the truth in what we have said.”
It would be recalled that the Okeke-led SECF threatened to mobilise Igbos at home and abroad against the presidential ambition of Jonathan, while also working for a Northern presidency in 2011.
The grouse of the group, according to its spokesman, Chief Chyna Iwuanyanwu, is that the President has failed to dialogue with them but is treating them with contempt.
They therefore decided to support the North for the 2011 presidency and wait for the zone to take its turn in 2015.
Iwuanyanwu, who spoke recently with the Nigerian Compass on Sunday in Abuja, said that members of the group are aware that the minority North and minority South have reached an agreement that after Jonathan’s presidency power will move to the Middle Belt.
Iwuanyanwu also alleged that Chief Edwin Clark has said that Jonathan does not need the support of the Igbos become the president.
According to him, Clark said that what Jonathan needed was the support of the South-West, the Middle Belt and the South-South.
Iwuanyanwu said that before the group took its position, it sought for a meeting with Jonathan, where it was expected the President would tell the members the gains of the South-East if it supports him.
But Jonathan did not respond to the request, Iwuanyanwu alleged.
Meanwhile, those pushing for the North to present a consensus candidate to challenge Jonathan for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2011 election are already having different ideas over when and how the consensus candidate must emerge.
Impeccable sources within the Consensus Candidate Committee set up to screen the four presidential aspirants from the North told the Nigerian Compass that despite the fact that the committee had concluded its task, there appears to be a division within the group over the timing for the presentation of the candidate.
While a section of the group contends that the candidate should be presented now, another faction is of the opinion that the candidate should be announced close to the time the PDP will conduct its presidential primary election.
In fact, sources in the group told the Nigerian Compass that there were already plans to reveal the identity of the favoured candidate last Friday but the decision was delayed due to the current division in the group over the announcement.
Although another source noted that the announcement could come during this week, specifically on Wednesday, but members of the other faction of the group, in a telephone interview with the Nigerian Compass on Saturday, insisted that it should be delayed until further notice.
It was learnt that those who contend that the announcement should be delayed believe that if such announcement is made at a period too distant from the presidential primary election of the PDP, it would make the candidate too vulnerable to attacks from the camp of the President.
The source said, “The committee has concluded its task.
“The only major obstacle now is the division within the group over the timing of the announcement of the consensus candidate.
“There is a school of thought that says that the identity of the candidate should be revealed now.
“But the other side is saying that revealing the identity of the candidate at a time too near to the election date will not unduly expose the candidate to attacks from the Jonathan camp.
“Moreover, it is also believed that keeping the decision under wraps for now will mean that the President’s camp will be dissipating its energy on the four candidates from the North, which is better than identifying who the consensus candidate is and focusing attention on him alone.”
But Jonathan’s camp is not leaving the situation to chance too.
Sources in Jonathan camp told our correspondent on Saturday that the President anticipates the North revealing the consensus candidate close to the time of the PDP primaries.
The source said that the Jonathan/Vice-President Namadi Sambo presidential think tank is already looking at a situation whereby the North will reveal the identity of the consensus candidate on the eve of the PDP presidential primary election and seize the sentiment of the moment to galvanise support for the candidate.
However, the source noted that the Joanthan/Sambo presidential election think tank is already moving towards counteracting the likelihood of such development, explaining that this was why the group has been trying to penetrate the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), with the aim of controlling the loyalty of the group.
The objective of the think tank, the Nigerian Compass learnt, is that in an event that the North presents a consensus candidate on the eve of the election, the NGF could actually come out with a pronouncement that it is against sectional interests as being displayed by the North in relation to the presidential election, a move that is believed will neutralise the ground for the President’s campaign team.
It was also further gathered that it was in anticipation of the move by the Jonathan think tank to seize control of the NGF that the incumbent Chairman of the forum, Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, was retained as chairman.
Sources said that the decision to retain Saraki as the chairman of the forum was taken at a marathon meeting the Kwara State governor and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had some state governors at an undisclosed location in Asokoro, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
The meeting, said to have been put together by a governor from one of the South-South state, lasted for about three hours.
It was said to have started at about 1a.m. and ended around 4a.m.
The source said that the North is aware of the political implication of retaining the control of the NGF and that it was considered that Saraki should continue to retain the chairmanship of the group until the consensus candidate was announced.
The source said, “Both the President’s camp and the Northern elders are already in a battle to control the soul of the NGF.
“For the President’s think tank, the NGF will provide an alternate pressure group to neutralise the effect of the North presenting a consensus candidate on the eve of the election day.
“For the Northern leaders on the other side, it is believed that allowing the President’s camp seize control of the NGF could amount to a big mistake and it was for that reason they mobilised to retain Saraki to continue as the chairman of the group until the consensus candidate is announced.” Nigerian Compass.
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