Igbo’s exclusion from May 29 inauguration committee: Tinubu following Buhari’s pattern – Ohanaeze Ndigbo

Following the non-inclusion of Igbo in the committee set up by the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for the May 29 handover activities, apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo, said on Tuesday that Tinubu inherited Igbo hatred from the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

The 14- member committee is expected to plan the presidential inauguration and it is made up of people from regions across the country.

However, going through the list, it was discovered that there was no Igbo person, a development that had generated reactions across political party lines in Igbo land.

Reacting on the development, the national vice president of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, described the incoming president as a tribalist, adding that it was difficult for him to change his opinion about Igbo.

He said: “Igbophobia is in his veins and by not including Igbo people in the handover committee, he is only trying to reopen old wounds.

“He inherited the hatred Buhari has against Igbo, especially when the President-elect has said he will continue from where the incumbent president stopped.

“He said he will continue with Buhari policies and our question is, what is he continuing?

“Is it to continue the marginalisation of a particular ethnic group?

“Ohanaeze has not even accepted his election and whatever he is doing is personal to him. What we know is that those who want to divide Nigeria will surely fail. 

“Ohanaeze is not in a hurry to recognise Tinubu as the President-elect because any house built on a faulty foundation is bound to collapse.

“We believe that the process of the 2023 presidential election is still on. 

“The voting has been done and the court has taken over and until the outcome of the court process is known, we cannot take a stand on the 2023 election.”

The Ohanaeze leader said it is unfortunate that Tinubu is toeing the path of disunity, adding that although some Igbo people may think they are on his side, there is a saying that an injury to one Igbo man is injury to all Igbo.

On the new leadership of Ohaneze, Okeke-Ogene said the Imeobi Ohaneze will meet on Sunday to take far-reaching decisions.

He added that the issue of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu emerging has not arisen because it is the Imeobi that will decide.

“For now, people can speculate on anything but Ohanaeze has a constitution and there are high expectations that things will work out well after the Imeobi meeting on Sunday,” he said.