Iwuanyanwu denies telling Igbo to put aside Igbo presidency

OHANAEZE Ndigbo Worldwide has described as mischievous media reports that Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, it’s president general said that Igbo should put aside the issue of Igbo presidency.

A statement by Alex Ogbonnaya, national publicity secretary, made available to Realnews on July 3, said on the contrary, a Iwuanyanwu stated the major issues that justified the Igbo enthusiasm for presidency in 2023.

The full statement reads:

The attention of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has been drawn to the news making the rounds to the effect that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Engr. Dr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, CFR (Ahaejiagamba) has asked “the Igbos to put aside the issue of Igbo presidency”, amongst others.

“The foregoing remark is the height of a mischievous sensational press hyperbole, aimed at marketing their newspapers. That the Igbo should put aside the issue of Igbo Presidency” is a whimsical conjecture that represents the distorted imaginations of the maladjusted news purveyors.

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“Engr. Iwuanyanwu granted interview to a few journalist on Tuesday, July 2, 2023 and used to occasion to address the major issues that justified the Igbo enthusiasm for presidency in 2023. The report by Naijatweet captured the kernel of the discourse:  I crave your indulgence to reproduce the Naijatweet version. “Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has offered insights into the Igbos’ support for Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate, in the recent election. In a press interview, he explained that the Igbos believed it was finally their turn to produce the next President, after a prolonged wait since 1979.

“According to Iwuanyanwu, the region had consistently supported other Presidents from the South in the past. The Igbos have been deprived of holding top-level positions since 1979 when General Olusegun Obasanjo handed over power to the civilians… In 1993, General Ibrahim Babangida handed over power to Chief Ernest Shonekan, a Yoruba.

“Iwuanyanwu recalled that the Presidential election won by Moshood Abiola, was unfortunately denied him. He said that Abiola was his close friend, and “I supported him wholeheartedly. Even after Abiola’s victory was unjustly denied, Ernest Shonekan, was appointed as the head of the Interim National Government. Following the military era, the next civilian government was led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, both from the South West of Nigeria…Later, the Presidency moved to the South-South with Goodluck Jonathan, and Yemi Osinbajo, from the South West served as the Vice President. Now that the Presidency has been zoned to the South once again, the Igbos rightfully believe it is their turn.

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“Iwuanyanwu added that he contested presidency three times and has decided not to pursue that ambition any more. That was the kernel of Iwuanyanwu remarks.

“Chief Iwuanyanwu used the interview to point out that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is his personal friend for years but that he will never place his personal interest above the aspirations and justifications for the good people of the South East. Ahaejiagamba wondered how an Igbo leader could ask the Igbo to put aside the issue of presidency at a point the Peter Obi impressive exploits are gaining traction at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja. Therefore, for anyone to suggest that the Igbo should put aside the issue of presidency is a false news, mundane speculation that dwells in bowels of the purveyors.

“Since his assumption of Office as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Iwuanyanwu has remained consistent on a transformative philosophical framework that will change the Igbo Land. Iwuanyanwu maintains that the Igbo have the disruptive ingenuity that will transform the Igbo to an economic hub for the entire Africa.

“The Igbo Leader is very enthusiastic that the human and capital resources that the Almighty has endowed the Igbo are sufficient to put us on a top economic scale beyond the Nigerian ethnocentrism. Ahaejiagamba reminds the Igbo that this is a trying period that with God, we will ultimately overcome.”