Igbo social-political body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has noted that it has no regrets for refusing to support President Muhammadu Buhari in the February 23 presidential election.
Ohanaeze had drummed support for candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, but Buhari of the All Progressives Congress eventually won the election.
However, the group has reiterated its stance of supporting Abubakar should the election be repeated.
Speaking to newsmen, the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prince Uche Achi-Okpaga, insisted that they decided to endorse Abubakar because the former Vice-President expressed his commitment to restructuring the country.
He said, “Ohanaeze Ndigbo has no regrets about endorsing Atiku Abubakar of the PDP; we have no regrets about not supporting President Muhammadu Buhari. What happened was that the National Executive Committee of Ohanaeze decided to support the candidate that was interested in restructuring Nigeria, which has been our position.
“We did not support Abubakar because he was a member of the PDP – we endorsed him because he wanted to restructure the country.
“We are even saying that if you give us another opportunity to take a decision on who to endorse, we will still go for Abubakar because he identified with our interests.
“Ohanaeze has no regrets about not backing Buhari in the election. Despite the outcome of the exercise, we have no regrets at all.”
Achi-Okpaga added that Ohanaeze was not expecting anything from Buhari, accusing the president being unfair to Igbo, particularly in his appointments and major decisions, since he came to power in 2015.
The group spokesman also said the body did not expect the President to treat Igbo better during his second term.
“We are not making any demands, there is no need. A leopard cannot change its spots except there is a miracle,” he said.
“What he cannot do during his first term, you cannot expect him to do that in the second term. His actions, statements and body language show that he does not mean well for Ndigbo. So, we are not expecting anything from him.”
In a related development, there are indications that the suspended Secretary General of the body, Uche Okwukwu, will be expelled from the NEC.
Okwukwu was suspended for opposing Ohanaeze’s decision to endorse Abubakar.
He also addressed an APC rally, where he reportedly claimed that Ohanaeze had decided to back Buhari’s re-election bid, and subsequently led a delegation to visit the President in the Presidential Villa.
A source in the Ohanaeze NEC told newsmen that “Since he refused to appear before the disciplinary committee, it is expected that the committee will write to inform the National Executive Committee and the committee would recommend his expulsion,” (The Herald)
