Governor Umahi says he no longer believes in Ohaneze after they betrayed Igbos at APC summit

GOVERNOR Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State has said he no longer believes in Ohanaeze Ndigbo after the body failed to stand up for Igbos during the recent presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Last week, the APC held its presidential primaries, which were won by the former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who coasted home with 1,271 votes. Igbo candidates performed very poorly in the elections, not challenging at will Governor Umahi only getting 38 votes and science and technology minister Ogbonnaya Onu getting just one vote.

All the other Igbo candidates, including former Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha, Tein Jack-Rich and Ike-Obasi Mokelu got no votes at all. Coming at a time when there were hopes that Nigeria's next president should be Igbo, Ohaneze and the five governors across the southeast geo-political zone have been heavily criticised for failing to show leadership.

Speaking about the summit, Governor Umahi accused the southeast delegates of a high level of betrayal during the APC presidential primary election in Abuja. He insisted that it was a big shame that Igbos failed to make a statement with their delegates.

Governor Umahi said: “The presidential election was an eye-opener to Ebonyi State. I thank God that through your support, we had a victory. We decided to contest so that the Igbo people would not say that we do not have qualified people.

“The Igbo man has five states and we should be asking why. Is there any fairness? Other states have 40 to 50 local government areas. How do you expect an Igbo man to win but the worst is the attitude of delegates from the southeast.

“Only Ebonyi people stood for both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and APC. It is a very big shame that our people are crying over marginalization. I am ashamed of the president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. He can no longer be my president.

"It is a very big shame every Igbo man should be weeping for himself. Let me warn the youths in Ebonyi State that those leaders selling us out should not be considered our leaders again.”