2023 Presidency: Ohaneze Youths Threaten to Dump PDP
By Blessing Ajah
The youth wing of the Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, has hinted the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of the possibility of Ndi Igbo dumping it in 2023 if it failed to hand the 2023 presidential ticket of the party to the Southeast zone.
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC) in a statement on Wednesday signed by it’s President, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, and Secretary General, Okwu Nnabuike, said denying the Igbo the ticket would lead to the loss of Anambra State to All Progressive Congress, APC, in 2021, as well as super massive decamping of all the PDP Igbo States to the APC, in 2022.
The OYC said it would amount to further disclosed that it would amount to betrayal for Ndigbo to labour for the PDP since 1999 and then be denied the party’s presidential ticket in 2023.
It warned any Igbo politician planning to swap Igbo presidency ticket for Vice President or Senate President, to perish thought.
“OYC wishes to remind all these recruited Igbo politicians, whose vain mission is to thwart 2023 Igbo presidential ticket or Senate presidency of 10th Assembly, to know that Igbo youths know their identities, their planned activities and their desires”, the group warned.
It alleged that “some Igbo external detractors” are making plans to deny the Igbos the 2023 PDP presidential ticket with the claim that the South East Governors betrayed PDP in the 2019 presidential elections.
“OYC through intelligence gathering is aware that after series of clandestine meetings in August 2020, in Abuja, Minna and Lagos, Igbo external detractors had successfully mobilised some powerful politicians of South East extraction, which includes some members of the National Assembly, (who are being promised 2023 Governorship tickets in their various states), particularly, a former Governor who felt that southeast governors betrayed the PDP in the 2019 presidential elections, three former ministers and leaders of Igbo socio cultural organisations”, the group stated.
According to the OYC, part of the grand plot to jeopardize Igbo presidency was to incite confusion in the ranks of South East Governors and portray the governors as Chief Security Officers of their various state.
“The first grand plan designed by Igbo external detractors is to deny Igbos 2023 PDP presidential ticket, a political party which Igbo had voted massively since 21 years now.
“The recent recruitment of these Igbo musketeers is to
repeat the same episode of 1998 Jos PDP convention where external forces used a former Governor of Old Anambra State to work against Dr. Alex Ekwueme in favour of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,” the OYC said in the statement.
It noted that the recruited Igbo leaders are working for a northerner to clinch the PDP presidential ticket in 2023.
