Due to Mr. Peter Obi's announcement that he would dispute the victory in court, the second-place finisher in the presidential election, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has stated that it will not congratulate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima.
By way of its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze declared that it supported Obi's announcement regarding the 2023 election, adding that it was marred by anomalies compared to prior elections.
Obi is from the South-East, a region with significant influence on the group. In an interview with Sunday Vanguard, Ogbonnia also stated that Ohanaeze did not have any doubts about the former Anambra State governor's ability to win re-election given his track record.
"A number of irregularities that have not been documented in history marred the election," he stated. In that sense, we support Obi's remarks regarding the election of 2023.
Obi further emphasized the irregularities, pointing out how the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, misled us about how they would conduct the election and announcing that he will file a lawsuit to regain his mandate.
"Since Obi had success doing so in Anambra, I have no doubts about his ability to regain his mandate. By God's grace, everything in the scenario will alter by the time he recovers the mandate.
Hence, we cannot start discussing the president-elect until we are certain that the incorrect candidate has been declared the winner. Obi claimed that he had proof that he had won the election. To that extent, it is challenging for us to start accepting Tinubu as the next president. Speaking at the same time, Chief Goddy Uwazurike of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and former president of the Igbo think tank Aka Ikenga said: "Ohanaeze endorsed Obi, as did Afenifere and the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum.
They cannot be the ones telling the president-elect what to do or what not to do if they all supported Peter and he is battling. In actuality, all they can do at this point is to wish him (Obi) well and remind the president-elect that, should he be certified by the supreme court, he should run an inclusive government without taking into account who voted for or against him. If you'll also note, Ohanaeze hasn't wished the new president luck.
Ohanaeze has officially disputed the findings.
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