The Chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Elders Advisory Committee, Chief Mmabazulike Amechi, has called on Igbo electorate to vote according to their individual choice, stressing that Ndigbo has no preferred presidential candidate for the March 28, 2015 general elections.

Addressing reporters at his Ukpor, Nnewi South Local Government Area country home, Amechi, who is among Igbo elders challenging the adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan by Chief Gary Enwo-Igariwey-led Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said the call on Igbo voters was because the two leading presidential candidates, incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan of PDP and General Muhammadu Buhari of APC, have failed to reckon with the Igbo nation.

Amechi said: “The caretaker committee of Ohaneze Ndigbo has issued an advice to Igbo voters everywhere to vote according to their individual conscience. This is because none of the two principle Presidential candidates has come to discuss the four cardinal issues so fundamental to the interest of Ndigbo.

“These are security for Ndigbo and their properties during and after the election particularly in the North; the callous neglect of Igbo territory since the end of the civil war; reparation for atrocities committed against Ndigbo over the years and during the civil war; and implementation of the recommendations of the Justice Oputa panel.”

Apart from the four cardinal issues, the former minister stated, there are other vital aspects of government and governance which should have been discussed before Ndigbo would be committed into one basket of support for one candidate or other.

He recalled that the Presidency is headed by the South-South; the judiciary is headed by a Northerner; the two arms of the legislature are headed by Northerners; the Armed Forces and security agencies are headed by Northerners and non-Igbo.

His words: “There is no Igbo in any of these arms of government in a federation that should reflect true federal character, according to constitution. These are issues that ought to have been discussed with the presidential candidates.

“If Jonathan is re-elected in the forth-coming election, his Vice will be a northerner; if Buhari is elected, his Vice will be a westerner of Yoruba origin.

“Ideally, Ndigbo should extract an agreement with one or both Presidential candidates and their political parties that at least the next legislature should be headed by an Igbo.

“These vital issues and the position of Ndigbo in a federation like Nigeria is what the elders and leaders, patriotic leaders, of Ndigbo insist must be discussed with the presidential candidates.”

Amechi accused some Igbo leaders of trading the fortunes of the people by allegedly receiving gratifications to commit the whole Igbo voters to one particular presidential candidate without any bargain for the good and future of Igbo land.

He added: “History and posterity will not be kind to those who trade away the great Igbo nation and her future for naira and dollar.”

Speaking on the ongoing political campaigns of the two leading parties of APC and PDP, Amechi stressed that it is the time the nation needed fervent prayers and God’s merciful intervention.

According to him, “It is now. The country is moving in a wobbly track which could easily lead to a precipice. There had been great tension in the country which has been aggravated by the postponement and change in the previously scheduled dates for the election, particularly the presidential election.

“The bitter tone and low level of the presidential campaigns by the two major political parties gives great cause for concern. It is known that in Nigeria losers hardly accept defeat.

“With the body language of the presidential candidates and their backers and chop chop followers, coupled with the bungling of the INEC, I shudder at what will be the security situation in the country when one candidate or the other is declared winner.”

Amechi added that if anything goes seriously wrong, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) shall be held responsible. The commission had four good years to prepare for the elections and the National Assembly gave it all the funds it requested for the election.

“The presidency also has its own share of the blame because being responsible for security and its inability to guarantee security for the election personnel, materials and observers; it has a big share of responsibility for any unwholesome development,” Amechi remarked.

•Photo shows Mbazulike Amechi.

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