The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has described the presidential ambition of former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as “dead on arrival”.
Ohanaeze made this known last night in reaction to Tinubu’s declaration to run for the office of President in 2023.
Tinubu revealed this to State House correspondents yesterday after a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
However, the APC leader said he had yet to publicly disclose his ambition as he was still in consultations with various interest groups across the country.
Tinubu’s meeting with the President came days after he (Buhari) declared in a televised interview that he would not divulge his favourite for the APC 2023 presidential ticket.
Asked if he had officially informed Buhari about his ambition to run, the APC leader said, “I answer that with a categorical yes. I’ve informed the President of my intention, but I have not informed Nigerians yet. I’m still consulting. And I have no problem consulting. And I’ve not set a parameter of limitation to the extent of how many people I will consult.
“You will soon hear; all you want to hear is the categorical declaration. You’ve got that truth from me that I have informed Mr President of my ambition, and you don’t expect more answers than that.”
But the apex Igbo group described the declaration of Tinubu to contest the Presidency in 2023 as against the rules of natural justice as unfortunate.
It regretted that the former Lagos State Governor had chosen to add to the crisis of Nigeria instead of joining hands with patriots to save the corporate existence of the country.
The spokesman for the Igbo apex body, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, said, “It is a project that is dead on arrival. Because God is a universal entity that he is always interested in truth, fairness and equity. So for anybody embarking on anything that is not rooted in equity and justice will not succeed and this is a countervailing force that has sustained this world from the beginning.
“So Tinubu knows that he is embarking on a cause that has no foundation in anything: foundation in equity and justice, and of course is a project that will not succeed.”
Ohanaeze spokesman, however, said it was very unfortunate that Tinubu had decided to add to the crisis in Nigeria, adding “because there is this collective conscience that has been guiding this country. The collective conscience is to culturally determine what is right and what is wrong and to pursue the one that is right and ignore the one that is wrong.
“But all the same, those who have really gone against the convention has often lost, you know at a point General Sani Abacha wanted to continue but he lost; Goodluck Jonathan ran against the current he lost any other person that tries to go against the convention and the current will always lose it. Mr Tinubu is working across purposes with the foundations of this country – foundation rooted in equity and justice.
“He knows that this is the turn of the Igbo and instead of supporting for the Igbo to emerge for peace to reign, for the corporate existence of Nigeria to remain intact, he decided adding to the problem and crisis. So for one to succeed as a matter of facts, patriots should consider the collective interest – the group interest more than self-interest. But in this case now Tinubu is more interested in self-interest. He considered self-interest above group interest or corporate existence of Nigeria. And that is selfishness at its height and any country that has such people is always in problem.
“Ohanaeze’s position is that Tinubu knows that he is doing the wrong thing. He is embarking on a project that is not rooted in equity, justice and fair play, and is against the common current of the conscience of the people and to that extent he will surely lose.”
