By Adadainfo
Igbo legal luminaries, under the aegis of the Igbo Lawyers Association (ILA), says the federal government is ‘harassing’ Mr Peter Obi because he ‘was cheated out of his victory’ in the presidential election of 25th February, 2023.
Obi was the standard-bearer of the Labour Party in the poll won by Mr Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress. However, Obi alongside other parties is challenging the victory of Mr Tinubu in the court.
Recall that Mr Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s information and culture minister, recently accused Obi and his running late, Datti Baba Ahmed, of treason, a development that attracted condemnations from the likes of Ohanaeze Ndigbo that recalled how Mr Mohammed had threatened a parallel government in 2015 should the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party rig the polls.
Chief Chuks Muoma, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and leader of the Igbo lawyers, said the group would summon a meeting to deliberate on the threat of treason by the FG, the SUN reported weekend.
He stated that, “Why are they harassing him, because they cheated him out of his victory? Now they are claiming he has committed treason offences. You cannot beat a child and deny him his tears, deny him crying.”
Muoma said Ndigbo had been relegated to the background in Nigeria’s polity, adding that until Ndigbo, who led Nigeria’s independence struggles, were accorded their due recognition, Nigeria would not have peace.
In his view, “Independence struggles for the country were spearheaded by Nnamdi Azikiwe, Mbonu Ojike, and Ozuomba Mbadiwe. Nigeria has to accept and give Igbo their rightful positions for it to move forward. As long as Nigeria hates Igbo, the country will remain as it is.”
On the possibility of Peter Obi leaving the country, Muoma said, “Why would Obi go on exile? If they said he committed treason, let them go ahead but the fact remains that they haven’t got any evidence against him. There is no evidence.
“The law is a matter of evidence and evidence is a matter of fact. All that they are doing is because Obi is an Igbo man. That’s exactly what the problem is.”
