Ahead of the 2027 election, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has not been contacted by any pro-President Bola Tinubu group seeking to persuade the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, to step down for the president.
A member of the National Executive Committee of Ohanaeze, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed to LEADERSHIP that the apex socio-cultural group had not been contacted by any group on the issue.
The NEC member, however, said Ohanaeze would not react to any proposal until the group contacted it, adding that it did not want to pre-empt anything until the group made contact.
“I will not want to pre-empt the group. When they come, then we will react to them, but Ohanaeze will not toe that path. I will even invite you to come if the organisation comes, but the organisation has not contacted us,” he stated.
Another chieftain of Ohanaeze and a member of Imeobi, the highest decision-making body of Ohanaeze, told our correspondent that no group had contacted Ohanaeze to persuade Obi to step down for anybody.
“I can reliably inform you that no group has contacted Ohanaeze to persuade Obi to step down for anybody. Ohanaeze is not a political party and will continue to be a socio-cultural organisation. When the so-called group contacts Ohanaeze, we will definitely respond,” the Ohanaeze chieftain stated.
It will be recalled that the Southeast chapter of the Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria (RHGN) had resolved to engage leading Igbo statesmen and Ohanaeze to persuade former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Peter Obi, to withdraw from the 2027 contest and support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.
Leader of the group in the Southeast, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, disclosed this in Owerri on Saturday after a meeting on how to secure victory for President Tinubu in all polling units across the five Southeast states.
He stated that the organisation would approach the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo under Senator John Azuta Mbata, alongside elder statesmen including Chief Emeka Anyaoku and Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, to urge them to lead a delegation to Obi.
