Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has cautioned against the vilification of Igbo political leaders, saying such campaigns of calumny or casting of aspersions on Igbo presidential hopefuls will not be condoned especially when it comes from another Igbo.
Ohanaeze reacted to what it described as ‘verbal diarrhoea and vituperative predispositions’ of Joe Igbokwe against Transport Minister, Chibuike Amaechi, to advance some people’s ambitions other than Igbo presidency, saying that, such is an act of timidity and cowardice.
In a statement issued by its Secretary-General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, Ohanaeze said, Igbokwe’s unprovoked onslaught aimed at the Minister of Transport should be investigated, “as it is organized rogue operations of political musketeers, as it is defamatory, calumnious and slanderous”.
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“For the records, Chibuike Amaechi is a registered member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the Rivers state chapter since the year 2000, as well as a bonafide member of ime obi (the apex decision making organ in Ohanaeze) based on his position as former Governor and current minister from Ikwerre, Igbo speaking area of Rivers State since 2015.
“This is our verdict, Chibuike Amaechi is a bonafide Igbo man, and there is no reason why anyone would incite crisis just for cheap political goals, the issue raised on abandoned properties in Rivers state after Biafra war is a hoax and diversionary, as based on the facts before us, there is no record of any Ikwerre man or woman that benefited from the obnoxious policy and nobody should blackmail an Ikwerre with the abandoned property saga”.
“We console Nigerians, President Buhari led Federal Government on the demise of the victims of the Abuja- Kaduna train, the politicized attacks on the train should be discouraged, as mischievous and disgruntled elements capitalize on the heinous activities of the enemies who attacked the train to discredit the efforts of the Federal Government through the Ministry of transport to ensure that there is an operational railway line across the country.
“We applaud the Minister of Transport for his bravery and heroism exhibited in the line of duty to calm the nerves of families and friends who lost the lives of their beloved ones in that ill-fated Abuja – Kaduna train”.
“Chibuike Amaechi, Ndigbo are proud to announce that you are one of the leading lights of the Igbo Nation, we are wishing him and other Igbo presidential hopefuls successful primaries, we expect that no Igbo should be a clog in the wheel of progress, as far as we concerned, Joe Igbokwe should have spoken out when Igbos we’re deported from Lagos in 2014, he should have denounced the threats for Igbo to jump into the lagoon in 2015 or when Igbo traders were threatened at Alaba International market, ” Amaechi is more Igbo than anyone who was silent when his kinsmen were forced into political slavery in Lagos state”.
“Ohanaeze will not join issues with a nonregistered organization with faceless leadership which was sponsored by politicians for the first time to discredit the workaholic Minister of Transport, but because it’s mandatory for Igbo leadership to correct the wrong impression and dummies sold out to the public, anyone who wants to point accusing fingers to Amaechi should, first of all, blame the Northern leadership for allowing insecurity to escalate in the North, we are amazed that after Gov El Eufai pointed out where the terrorists and bandits are stationed at Northwestern Nigeria, there are no concrete efforts to end the insurgents in the North, we are wondering what the National Security Adviser is doing and other northern security chiefs.
“Chibuike Amaechi is only a minister of the federal republic, not security personnel, but we know that the Igbo man as president will end up with northern security challenges in the north by 2023. Chibuike Amaechi is exonerated from the responsibility of the insecurity challenges in the North,” Ohanaeze said.
