Ohanaeze Distances Self From 'Purported' Meeting With Wike

Gov Nyesom Wike

Apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has distanced itself from the visit by some members of the National Executive Council, NEC, of the organization to Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.

Ohanaeze said that the group had indeed for the past two years been trying to fix a meeting with Wike as a Governor of one of the seven Igbo-speaking states in Nigeria, but that Wike rebuffed all their requests.

News had emerged last week that some member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo met with Wike in Port Harcourt, where the Governor allegedly said that he was never against a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction, particularly Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party, but that nobody discussed the actualisation of Igbo presidency with him.

Reacting to the purported visit by some members of Ohanaeze officials, the Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Amb. Okey Emuchy said that Governor Wike even refused to respond to Ohanaeze’s mail to him, notifying the Governor about the death and burial of the Deputy President General of the Igbo group, High Chief Joel Kroham, who hailed from Ahoda, Rivers State.

Emuchay said that those who went to see Wike went there in their personal capacities and did not go there as Ohanaeze delegation.

He therefore urged the general public to regard whatever that emanated from the meeting as a personal voyage.

The Ohanaeze scribe also announced the group’s procurement of a court order against certain persons, particularly, Okechukwu Isiguzoro who have been parading themselves as a faction of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, noting that the legal department of the Igbo group was perfecting legal means of abetting their nuisance.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide also pleaded with Igbo people wherever they reside in Nigeria to remain law abiding and troop out on Saturday the 18th of March to exercise their civic responsibility.

Emuchay said: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide did not undertake any trip to the Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Gov Nyesom Wike last week. Those who did, went as private individuals not the NEC of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide. We had made efforts in the past to seek an audience with the Governor of Rivers State. For over two years, the late President General, myself and other stakeholders had to engage with prominent Nigerians whose names I am not here to disclose.

“The last effort was a letter I delivered via DHL to the Governor on the 18 of January this year, to among others, inform the governor that the Deputy President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, High Chief Kroham Joel had passed on and the family had fixed a date for the funeral in his village in Ahoda West LGA of Rivers State. I did not receive any response to that letter. Ohanaeze NEC was in Ahoda West local government to bury the late Deputy President General.

“Now, on the issue of Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, we have a court order that was issued on Friday, March 10, 2023. It was a restraining order on him and three others. The legal department of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide is doing the needful and in the next few days, that process will be completed. I want to say once more that Ohanaeze has no faction. Okechukwu Isiguzoro was never elected as Secretary General of Ohanaeze. He goes about issuing statements that are injurious to the Igbo nation and to our nation, that are littered all over Nigeria and beyond.

“Okechukwu Isiguzoro should cease doing what he is doing and also, we call on his sponsors to understand that Ohanaeze will survive. Ohanaeze is above all of us. Ohanaeze is an umbrella organization for all Igbo, both at home and in diaspora. So, those who are prodding him, those who are sponsoring him should please think about our people.

“Okechukwu Isiguzoro was never elected. In fact, Okechukwu Isiguzoro was a delegate during the Ohanaeze General Assembly that elected the current executives on Sunday, 10 of January 2021 in Owerri Imo State.

“Also, that people who are using the name of Ohanaeze, it has been turned into a kind of cottage industry, moving around, going from one place to the other, promising people that they would do this on behalf of the Igbo nation, to me, this is not acceptable and we call on these people to please cease using the name of Ohanaeze to extort money from members of the public.

“In conclusion, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide pleads with our people wherever they reside in Nigeria to remain law abiding and troop out on Saturday the 18th of March to exercise their civic responsibility.”