All eyes are on the Igbo nation today as the Nigerians choose who governs them for the next four years. Amidst controversies, Ohanaeze, the apex social cultural group for the Ndigbo, endorsed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. But the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, asked the people of the region to sit at home on the election day. Will this serve the interest of the Igbo nation? TOPE SUNDAY asks.
Ahead of today’s presidential and National Assembly elections, the Igbo nation endorsed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, amidst controversies and dissenting voices from the region. However, PDP which is not leaving any stone unturned is banking heavily on the massive support it enjoys in the South-east geo-political region of the country for its victory today.
However, other political parties like the All Progressives Congress APC), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), are also banking on the votes from the zone to emerge victorious. But the sit-at-home order by the leader of IPOB Kanu remains a major concern as this is seen as an attempt to deprive the people of the region from exercising their civic responsibility.
Ohanaeze endorsement and attendant controversies
On January 25, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, endorsed PDP’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakaras its choice candidate in the coming election.
In a communiqué signed by the president-general of Ohanaeze, John Nnia Nwodo, the group cited the choice of Peter Obi as the running mate and the commitment to restructuring as reasons for endorsing Atiku, saying the decision was reached after an appraisal of the issues and analysis of the election manifestos of the various contesting parties, “especially with regards to the restructuring of the federation and continued relevance of our people in the Nigerian geopolitical space.”
The communiqué said the meeting resolved as follows: “That Ohaneze notes particularly that a major political party (PDP) by the nomination of our son Peter Obi as the vice presidential candidate has given Ndigbo an opportunity for inclusivity. Ndigbo must seize the moment.
“That the presidential candidate of PDP Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has made an avowed commitment to restructuring of the federation andreconfirmed same during his recent visit to the United States in his meetings high-level US officials.
“In consideration of the above and other relevant existential factors pertaining to the treatment of the Igbo in our polity, the Ime Obi Ohaneze, therefore, hereby ratify the decision reached at the Ohaneze National Executive Committee meeting held in Enugu on Tuesday 22 January, 2019, to adopt the Atiku Abubakar/ Peter Obi ticket in the 2019 presidential election. Ime Obi therefore endorses and embraces fully, this ticket without equivocation.”
But a few minutes after the Ohanaeze’s declaration for Atiku, a former secretary general of the organisation, Chief Obiora Ozobu, described the move as “a hoax and personal invention of the President General of the organisation, Chief Nnia Nwodo.”
Ozobu at a media briefing appealed to the people of the area to ignore the endorsement, which he described as “a mischievous act” aimed at causing division among Ndigbo and said Nwodo lacked the capacity to summon a meeting of ‘Ime Obi’ because his tenure as president-general had lapsed.
Also, the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige, described the move as “unfortunate,” saying the endorsement of presidential candidates had never done anything good for Ndigbo, and that Ohanaeze as a socio-cultural organisation had no business endorsing a particular candidate.
Collaborating Ngige, a former Enugu state governor, Mr Sullivan Chime, said the said endorsement was done by those that had left office, and that “it was not a meeting of Ohaneze Ndigbo but a meeting between Nwodo and his friends. Ohanaeze has no business doing what that group did.”
In a chat with Blueprint Weekend, a governance expert and executive director of Amaka Chiwuike-Uba foundation (ACUF), Mr Chiwuike Uba, said Atiku/Obi will garner 90 per cent of the total votes cast in the South-east “with or without the endorsement of Ohanaeze.”
“First, I must say, though the mood of almost all the South-east people is to see the exit of the present APC-led federal government, I find it inappropriate for Ohanaeze, as a non-political apex Igbo umbrella organisation, to endorse any particular candidate. My position is anchored on multi-political affiliations of the Igbo. No good father does that.
“I understand the pains the Igbo have gone through in the hands of the APC-led government. They have gone from one of the three major ethnic nationalities in Nigeria to becoming the least under the current government.
“Igbo naturally will vote enmasse for the Atiku/Obi ticket and other opposition parties in the south east with or without the Ohanaeze endorsement. Igbo are tired of APC,” he said.
South-east voting strength
The South-east geo-political zone in 2015 gave the then ruling party, PDP, block votes because the party’s presidential candidate, former President Goodluck Jonathan, is from the South-south region and because of proximity and religion he was considered as the son of the soil. His close rival, who eventually defeated him, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, now the president of Nigeria, is from the North and also a Muslim.
However, the major presidential candidates in today’s election, President Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, are from the North and are both Muslims. Their running mates, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and Mr Peter Obi, are from the South-west and South-east, respectively, and are both Christians.
Though, some political pundits have predicted that the 2015 scenario may not play out again in the region because the major contenders are not from the zone, they are quick to add that Obi being a son of the soil may sway favour for the PDP.
A total of 84,004,084 voters are expected to cast their votes today, out of which, 10,057,130 voters representing 11.9 per cent of the Nigerian electorates are expected to vote in the region.
The breakdown of the number shows that Anambra has the highest number of voters from the zone with 2,447,996 voters. It is followed by Imo with 2,272,293 voters, and followed by Enugu with 1,944,016; Abia has 1,932,892, while Ebonyi has 1,459,933 people as voters.
IPOB’s suspended sit-at-home order
Barely 24 hours to the election, the leader of IPOB Nnamdi Kanu, in a tweet on his Twitter handle Thursday night, suspended his call that Igbo should boycott the general elections.
In the tweet, which was also shared by IPOB on the Radio Biafra Facebook page, Nnamdi said: “Having confirmed this evening that all our preconditions and terms have been met, signed, sealed and delivered; I hereby call-off the election boycott across Biafraland on Febuary 16, 2019.I dedicate this historic victory to the formidable #IPOB family worldwide.”
Prior to his latest declaration, he had in an exclusive interview with BBC a few days ago, reiterated IPOB’s initial decision to shun the elections across “Biafra land,” saying: “We want to send a very clear and unmistaken message to humanity that we are serious about Biafra. We will lock Biafra down on the 16th to convey this message that Biafra is all that we are seeking is all that we want not Nigeria.”
But his earlier position had generated ripples as some had seen his position as an attempt to disenfranchise the Igbo nation, which sees today’s election as a means of emancipating its people.
Featuring on an AIT political programme in Abuja recently, the president-general, Chief Nwodo, said the present government at the centre is marginalising his people and reiterated his group’s and that of the region’s support for Atiku, who, he said, represents their hope and aspiration.
He, however, described the sit-at-home order by IPOB as “self-serving and an attempt to prevent the zone from liberating itself.”
Also, the Nigerian High Commissioner to India, retired Maj. Gen. Chris Eze, said the order “is a way of distracting some ignorant people from exercising their franchise,” stating that “whatever IPOB says to boycott the election is not in the interest of the South-east.”
He said no sensible Igbo man should obey such silly order, and that “it is a way of distracting some ignorant people from exercising their franchise.”
Eze said in 2006 Ralph Uwazurike came up with MASSOB and prevented the Igbo from being counted in the census and that the statistics compiled in 2006 put the Igbo where they are today.
“If the Igbo know what is good for them, they should not listen to IPOB; they should re-integrate themselves into the national main stream like they did in 1979,” he said.
Similarly, Uba described the call to boycott the election by IPOB as “a huge distraction” that should be disregarded as it was done in the past.
“Number of Igbo lives wasted under the pretence of IPOB’s fight is also a testament of the humiliations the Igbo have suffered. Unfortunately, Nigeria is suffering for the alienation of the Igbo in the affairs of Nigeria.
“IPOB’s sit- at- home order is a huge distraction and have been rejected by the electorate. Most Igbo have obeyed such orders in the past; but, as you can see, the South-east people vehemently rejected the IPOB’s sit- at- home order this time.”
Though, the sit-at-home order during the election has been vacated, an indigene of Afikpo in Ebonyi state, Prince Ajuka Okah, said it has no effect because the initial order had discouraged the people of the zone from registering as voters.
“The IPOB’s latest position may not change anything because it had already discouraged our people from registering as eligible voters in today’s election. Now, look at the entire people that will vote from the southeast. It would have been better, if we had all registered as voters,’’ he said.
Which way Igbo?
Now, with the stand purportedly taken by the Igbo ahead of today’s election, it is clear that they may vote enmasse for Atiku, but will that translate to victory for him? What happens if Buhari wins? Will they not still suffer the marginalisation they are accusing the APC government of? These are some of the questions that the today’s election will provide answers for.
Also, will the sit-at-home order despite its cancellation not have a negative effect on the targeted votes from the zone and shrink the anticipated votes of the PDP? This is one of the issues that will be resolved after the election.
However, a political analyst, Uche Nnadozie, who described IPOB’s action as “a childish tantrum,” said Ohanaeze shouldn’t have dabbled into politics.
He said: “The sit-at-home order has been called off, but it was a childish tantrum. The Igbo is good. But at this time, we are being led by cronies of PDP, so it’s understandable. This is a phase, it will pass. I’m sure some of our people who don’t humor PDP will ensure the scale of bad politics that PDP placed on our people is shaken off.
“Ohanaeze is divided as we speak. I think the leader is speaking for himself at the moment. In any case, the people are free to vote any person of their choosing. Ohanaeze is a cabal of political fortune grabbers. They think that by endorsing Atiku some reward will come their way if he wins. I will prefer an Ohanaeze that is for all.
“In a multi-party democracy and a multi ethnic country like Nigeria, it’s parochial for ethnic-based NGOs to keep endorsing candidates for president. It’s naive and this cuts across all such organisations. They should promote culture and social inclusion not to dabble into politics knowing that their people are in all political parties.”
