The apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Wednesday denied allegation that it deliberately scheduled its Imeobi – Ohanaeze’s highest decision-making organ – meeting to clash with President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign rally in the South-east.
The group is expected to hold the meeting in Enugu to decide Ohanaeze’s position on the February 16 presidential election.
Buhari will visit Enugu and other parts of the South-East as part of his re-election campaign today.
There are insinuations that Ohanaeze intentionally fixed the Imeobi meeting to clash with Buhari’s visit to sabotage his campaign rally in the region.
However, the body in a statement issued Wednesday by Chief Emeka Attamah, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President-General of Ohanaeze, described the insinuations as “false and unfounded”.
Attamah quoted the Ohanaeze President-General, Chief Nnia Nwodo, as saying he was not aware of Buhari’s campaign tour of the South-east when the meeting was scheduled.
He said in order to avoid a clash with Buhari’s programme in the zone, the meeting had been moved from 10am to 4pm.
“In deference to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, and the Chairman of the South-east Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Dave Umahi, who both called his attention to the clash, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo shifted the time for the meeting from 10am to 4pm on the same day at the instance of Ngige.”
The group said the decision was taken “to give all Igbo sons and daughters scheduled for the meeting the opportunity to be there”.
