The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has met with Governor Nyesom Wike to explain his role in the alleged massive rigging against Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in Rivers State.
According to the Spokesman of Ohanaeze, Dr Alex Ogbonnia in a statement in Enugu on Friday, the delegation which was led by Dr Kingsley Chidozie, the Vice President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo (Abia) met with Governor Wike on Thursday, March 9 at the Exco Chambers, Government House, Port Harcourt.
"Dr Aneke thanked Governor Wike over the cordial relationship between him and the Igbo community in Rivers State.
"Aneke highlighted both the consanguinity and contiguity between the people of the South East of Nigeria and the Rivers State and wondered 'how an Ikwerre man will in good conscience, work against the Igbo in a presidential race where the candidacy of Peter Obi was a low hanging fruit'.
"He informed Wike that the Igbos all over the world are aggrieved with him, especially as the alleged rigging operations are circulating on the Internet". Aneke informed Wike that the Ohanaeze Ndigbo consider it a duty to confront him over the alleged widespread electoral malpractices in Rivers State against our son, Peter Obi.
"He expressed deep sadness that Obi would win in the metropolitan Lagos, Abuja, and several other places in the North only to record so low in Rivers State.
"Aneke added that the delegation is on fact-finding and that both the Igbo elders and youths are eager to know why he should go the extra mile to pull Obi down in Rivers State.
"He expressed his worries that the body of the late Professor Obiozor would have turned in the grave because of the alleged atrocities in Rivers State.
Obiozor, according to him had "set the Igbo project on a success line before his demise and would be sad in the grave that those he considered his sons turned against the Igbo interest when it mattered most".
"He asked Wike to "imagine what could have been the outcome of the election if he had supported Obi during the presidential election".
He ended with the remark: “The Igbos are very sad and will want his explanations”.
According to Ogbonnia, Governor Wike expressed surprise that the Ohanaeze were on fact-finding but he would however explain his role in the last presidential election.
Wike explained that the Southern Governors Forum first met at Asaba, Delta State and agreed that "power must shift to the South after President Muhammadu Buhari; and that they also met at Enugu in September 2021 to reaffirm their position for a power shift to the South".
Wike stated that throughout their meetings, the issue of the presidency to the South East was never on the table.
He added that throughout his political adventure in this dispensation, he tried as much as possible to maintain the position of the Southern governors".
Wike expressed disgust that during the PDP presidential primaries, several well-known people of the South East betrayed and sabotaged the Southern interest by voting for the Northern candidates for the presidency.
He added that his unalloyed commitment to the South motivated him to "provide logistics for Peter Obi when he was in the Rivers State for presidential campaigns and that he refused to provide even a campaign ground for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP on principles".
He further quoted the Governor as saying that "what is circulating on social media is the handiwork of Wike's adversaries.
He alleged that some mischief makers were using doctored and false audio and visual materials on the internet to dent his image.
The governor admitted that all the decisions he took with respect to the 2023 presidential elections were based on his personal convictions and queried if Ohanaeze Ndigbo ever requested him to support Peter Obi.
He added that he is a "man with the courage of his convictions and that he neither has reasons to tell lies nor to owe an apology to anyone".
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