Inside Nigeria
Ohanaeze Won’t Congratulate Tinubu As President-Elect, Backs Obi to Recover ‘Stolen Mandate’
Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has thrown its weight behind the move by the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi to challenge the victory of Bola Tinubu in court.
Ohanaeze insisted that it won’t congratulate the president-elect, Tinubu and the vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima, now until all legal cases had been determined and settled.
Ohanaeze’s National Publicity Secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, said that the February 25 presidential election was marred by abnormalities, which had been identified by both local and international observers.
The apex Igbo body said it has confidence that Obi will recover his mandate on account of his past record.
He said: “The election was marred by a lot of irregularities that have not been recorded in history. To that extent, we endorse the speech made by Obi with respect to the 2023 election.
“Obi also highlighted the irregularities, he highlighted that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, gave us false impressions about how they will conduct the election, saying he is going to court to recover his mandate.
“I have no doubt in Obi’s capacity to recover his mandate because he had done so in Anambra. By God’s grace, by the time he recovers the mandate; everything in the scenario will change.
“So, we cannot begin to talk about the president-elect when we are sure that the wrong person has been declared winner. Obi said he has evidence that he won the election. To that extent, it is difficult for us to begin to embrace Tinubu as president-elect.”