By Adadareporters
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Tuesday, debunked the candidature of All Progressives Congress’ presidential candidate, Sen Ahmed Tinubu.
The purported endorsement of Tinubu carried headlines like ‘Ohanaeze Ndigbo dumps Peter Obi, declares support for Tinubu’.
Ohanaeze’s national publicity secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, in a reaction, identified the purveyor of the story as one Chief Solomon Aguene, the immediate past president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Lagos State chapter.
Dr Ogbonnia stated that, “For the purpose of clarity, Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene was elected the president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos State chapter, in June 2018 for a four year tenure, in line with the constitution of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
“Towards the end of 2021, information reached the national headquarters of Ohanaeze that Aguene was plotting a tenure elongation. Several eminent Igbo dignitaries urged Aguene to rescind the contemplation for an obnoxious tenure elongation and rather lend support for a fresh election for a new executive.
“In line with the constitution of the apex Igbo socio-cultural body, an electoral panel headed by a seasoned technocrat in the person of Nze Ozichukwu Chukwu was constituted by the president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ambassador Professor George Obiozor, with a mandate to conduct a fresh election for the Lagos State chapter.”
Dr Ogbonnia said on June 15, 2022, an election was held in which over 750 delegates from seven Ohanaeze states participated.
Quoting him, “At the end of the contest, Chief Sunday Ossai was declared the winner with 380 votes, while the runner up, Chief Evaristus Ozonweke, scored 339 votes.
“Information reaching Ohanaeze Ndigbo indicates that Aguene has secured a tenure elongation from a Lagos court. This is to say the least very deplorable.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo therefore informs the general public that the current president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos State chapter, is Chief Sunday Ossai and only the chapter president or an authorised officer of the current Lagos State executive has the right to speak on behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos State chapter.”
He called on the general public to ‘disregard reckless statements by impostors, charlatans, unscrupulous social climbers and pretenders whose major objective is both mischievous and shady’.
He said, “Ohanaeze believes that any person with a democracy credential will dissociate self with a person whose public conduct is at variance with democratic norms; and that the Aguene endorsement to a presidential candidate is hollow.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the misleading impression that ‘Ohanaeze dumps Obi’ is from the pit of hell and meant to serve private interest. Such a statement is hereby vehemently debunked.”
