By Vincent Ujumadu

Awka- THE nomination of the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi as the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, reportedly received a standing ovation during the recent conference of Anambra State  Association in the United States of America, ASA –USA, held in Chicago.

Peter Gregory Obi

Anambra State president of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Damian Okeke, told reporters in Awka yesterday that Anambra people in the Americas were delighted at the choice of Obi, who, as the governor of Anambra State for eight years, collaborated well with ASA –USA in the execution of many projects in the state.

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“It is heart-warming to state that in far away Chicago, USA, where I attended the just concluded ASA-USA annual conference, the news of the choice of Mr. Peter Obi as the Vice Presidential candidate was received with standing ovation and the World Igbo Congress has clearly declared support for the joint ticket,” the Ohaneze President said.

According to him, though Ohaneze is not a political organization, it is still committed to the political future of Ndigbo and the South East geopolitical zone, adding that the period of election was not the right time to play to the gallery, but the time to face the real facts.

He said although there were some Igbo presidential flag bearers of some political parties, supporting them would be like riding a bicycle to Lagos, while supporting the big parties with Igbo interests would be like flying to Lagos in an aero plane.

He said: “The journey to 2019 has started and is gathering momentum. Ohanaeze Ndigbo has earlier made its stand clear in line with the South East summit held on 21′ May 2018 at Ekwueme Square in Awka to support every effort towards restructuring of the country to give every zone a sense of belonging and promote equity, justice and fairness that would give Ndigbo and every other part of the country a sense of belonging.

“In line with this, Ohanaeze Ndigbo resolved to support any political party and candidate with a manifesto of actualizing the restructuring. This is why Ohanaeze Ndigbo Anambra State chapter, is declaring total support for the choice of Mr. Peter Obi, the former governor of the state as the running mate to the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

“We want to congratulate the PDP and its candidate for the wise choice of our own son, Peter Obi, which has gained worldwide acceptance and commendation.

“We equally congratulate Nigerians for voicing out their general acceptance of the joint ticket, irrespective of party affiliations, showing that their acceptance cut across political, religious and tribal divides.

“I want to point out that the so called dissenting voice in the South East will definitely work with entire Igbo to achieve the set agenda. We also want assure Nigerians that there is nothing to lose sleep about as Igbo are strongly united towards restructuring and repositioning the country to take its rightful position in Africa as the giant and power house of the continent, as well as engender stable and progressive political culture future generation.

“We also advise Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the PDP to ensure that other key political positions are evenly distributed across the political zones of the country to carry everybody along.”