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| Goodluck Jonathan |
A motion to adopt President Goodluck Jonathan as the consensus candidate of the Igbo for the 2015 presidential election failed at the Ime-Obi (inner caucus) meeting of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Saturday in Enugu.
The adoption of Jonathan as the consensus candidate of the
Igbo was not on the agenda of the meeting, which held at the apex Igbo
socio-political organisation’s secretariat in Enugu.
But midway into the meeting, a Peoples Democratic Party
chief, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, moved the motion, urging Ohanaeze to adopt
Jonathan for the election.
Iwuanyanwu informed the Ime-Obi that he came with a message
from ’90 per cent of Igbo, who were supporting Jonathan’s election for a second
term.
He asked the meeting to give him an answer so that he could
report back to those who sent him.
The motion caused an uproar, forcing the President General,
Chief Gary Igariwey, to adjourn the meeting, which ended abruptly with a
shouting match between those against and those in support of the failed motion
to adopt Jonathan as the consensus candidate.
Following the failure of the motion, Iwuanyanwu walked out
of the meeting and drove away from the venue.
Earlier, some members of the Ime-Obi had kicked against an
attempt to extend the tenure of the organisation’s national executive committee
to four years from the statutory two years tenure in office.
A representative of Ndigbo in the Diaspora, Mr. Nwachukwu
Anakwenze, had told the meeting that the constitution was amended under the
previous administration, extending the tenure to four years.
Anakwenze alleged that those who were challenging the tenure
of the executive were hired to cause trouble in Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
The comment apparently irked a former national chairman of
the defunct Justice Party, Chief Ralph Obiorah, who immediately walked out of
the meeting.
In an encounter with journalists, Obioha maintained that the
tenure of the executive had long elapsed, saying those supporting the tenure
elongation were persons, who masqueraded under Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the
Diaspora’s umbrella, to collect N4m from the N20m released to Ohanaeze Ndigo by
Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State.
He noted that it was obvious that some people came to the
meeting with a predetermined agenda.A communiqué released after the meeting however stated that the tenure of the executive was four years.
The communiqué also explained that the motion for the
adoption of a presidential candidate was kept in abeyance, until further
notice, as the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo was still consulting.
The communiqué reads, “The amendment of the Constitution of
Ohanaeze Ndigbo during the Ime-Obi meetings of August 14, 2010 and October 30,
2010 as well as during the General Assembly meeting of November 6, 2010 as
shown in the video tape today is hereby ratified by the Ime-Obi meeting today
January 3, 2015, hence the tenure of the office of National and State officers
of Ohanaeze Ndigbo remains four years.
“A committee will be set up by the NEC of Ohanaeze Ndigbo on
the issue of reconciliation of all aggrieved parties in Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
“The said committee shall equally look into the issues of
multiple litigation plundering (confronting) Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
“The amendment of tenure done to the Constitution of Ohanaeze
Ndigbo as ratified by the General Assembly meeting of November 6, 2010, be
published and reflected in the constitution, which took effect from the said
date; as a substitute to the constitution dated January 27, 2004, which has the
same contents, and is currently in use after the amendment.
“The issue of adopting any presidential candidate in the
forth-coming presidential election in Nigeria was raised, but kept in abeyance
as the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is still consulting.”
Culled from Punch
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