People of South-East geopolitical zone have gone wild into celebrations following the announcement of two-term Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in next year’s general election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as his running mate.

Obi was announced on Friday by the former Vice President as his running mate for 2019 presidential election.
The people of the South-East went into jubilation immediately Atiku pronounced Obi his running mate.

National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prince Uche Achi-Okpagha in his reaction said Obi would bring his expertise to bear by assisting Atiku to revitalize the nation’s economy.
“We the Ohanaeze Ndigbo have already made it clear that we are not interested in the Presidency or Vice-Presidency of Nigeria unless you restructure Nigeria.

“If you put an Igbo man as a President, there is little or nothing he can do in developing the south-east because his wings are clipped by the wages of confusion in his side.

“But be that as it may, Atiku is the one who has been hammering on restructuring. So, we have absolute faith in him that he is going to restructure Nigeria and if he does that and with people like Peter Obi on his side, that is where the expertise comes in”.

“Peter Obi is a technocrat; he will help to revitalize the economy of this country. This is all we want because if you are not an expert and you are into politics, you bring the expert close to you not base on ethnic or religious sentiments.

“You already know that Obi was former Governor of Anambra State for two terms, and that is a no mean experience and he has been a financial guru before he came into politics. So, he will help Atiku revitalize the economy.

“The way the economy of the country is, we need people like Obi otherwise the economy will collapse irretrievably.

“Obi is a Christian and he is from the South-East and Atiku has brought him close to help him to fix the economy. This is what we want. What else do we want if not to move the nation forward because the masses will not continue to suffer”, Mr Okpagha said.

Also, the Youth wing of the Ohaneze in a statement applauded Mr Atiku’s decision.
The statement by its President, Okechukwu Isiguzoro said the group will work with youth groups from other zones to deliver the duo.

The statement reads:”We applaud the gesture of PDP and Atiku Abubakar on the nomination of our son and mentor, Peter Obi as the running mate in the 2019 Presidential election, this nomination is the respect accorded to aspirations of millions of Igbos scattered across length and breadth of the country”.

“The jubilation that erupted with the news of Peter Obi as Atiku’s running mate across the South East shows that both Youths and agitators accept that it is the Best pair for PDP to win 2019 Presidential election.

“We will ensure that this respect accorded to aspirations will yield better dividends for PDP because of the whole Igbo youths”

“We call on Igbo Youths to remained law-abiding and prepare to ensure that the duo of Atiku and Peter Obi are returned to Aso rock in 2019, as President and Vice President.
“We will reach out to the Arewa, Ijaw, Middle Belt, Ibibio and Yoruba Youths under the Nigeria Ethnic Nationalities Youth organizations for the success of Atiku and Peter Obi Project 2019”.

• Sourced from The Nation report

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