The President General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo; a constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, and the Indigenous People of Biafra, on Sunday, held a closed-door meeting at Ogbaru, Anambra State.
It was gathered that the meeting convened by Nwabueze deliberated on the 2019 general elections and the Igbo interest in the presidency.
An insider in the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told News men that all the parties in the meeting agreed that the Igbo would not field any presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections.
The source said, “Prof. Nwabueze just consolidated on the previous peace meeting between Ohanaeze and IPOB, which held in Enugu some months back.
“It is necessary to consolidate on the existing peace between both groups as a way of forging a common front among the Igbo.”
In the meeting were Chief Nnia Nwodo, a former Dean, Church of Nigeria, Most Rev Maxwell Anikwenwa, and a counsel for IPOB, Mr Aloy Ejimakor.
Nwabueze, who briefed News men after the meeting, said, “Leaders can only succeed if their followers are with them. We will not be united if followers are disenchanted with the leadership.
“There is trouble in Nigeria; we do not know what will happen in future but we can predict and we know there is a problem.
“We love Nigeria but the leaders of the nation are not doing the right thing. We are not in control of anything in Nigeria; it is for this reason that we need to come together and be united.
“We have no control of anything in Nigeria and if we lose control of ourselves, we are finished and we will not let it happen while we are alive.”
He said there was so much disunity in Nigeria today, adding that the essence of the gathering was to make everyone understand the need for peace to reign.
He said the meeting was a fruitful one, and that the IPOB was asking for the Federal Government to rescind the proscription order on the organisation.
He added that Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other leaders of the zone had resolved to hold a meeting with South East governors to put pressure on the Federal Government to lift the proscription on IPOB.
Nwabueze said, “IPOB’s major worry is to get the Federal Government to lift its proscription order on them. We have promised to liaise with the state governors to do so in a later meeting that will hold on August 8.”
Speaking on Igbo presidency, Nwabueze said the South-East was not interested in the Presidency of the country; rather its interest was to have Nigeria restructured.
He said, “The primary need of Ndigbo now is restructuring, not Igbo presidency. We want a restructured Nigeria; that is the only way we can get what we want and every zone would be satisfied. If Nigeria is restructured, that will go a long way to satisfy our demands.
“We don’t want Igbo presidency. As the country is today, we cannot get anything until Nigeria is restructured. We can begin to talk about Igbo presidency only when Nigeria is restructured.”
