Ohanaeze’s new president Iwuanyanwu pledges to secure Nnamdi Kanu’s release

Nigerian politician and businessman Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has been confirmed as the main chairman of the Igbo socio-cultural organization Ohanaeze Ndigbo. In his inaugural address, Mr. Iwuanyanwu pledged to secure the release of separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu, who is on trial for treason by the federal government.

Mr. Iwuanyanwu was unanimously approved as the group’s general chairman at a meeting of Ohanaeze Imeobi on Sunday at the Banquet Hall in Enugu.

Imeobi is the highest decision-making body of Ohanaeze, considered by many to be the preeminent Igbo socio-cultural institution in Nigeria.

The 80-year-old politician was earlier this month presented to Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State by a delegation of the Imo Council of Elders as the consensus candidate to replace George Obiozor, the Igbo group’s paramount chairman whose death. announced in December.

But given that his emergence was not through elections, Ohanaeze Imeobi had to confirm the position.

Ohanaeze Imeobi was not allowed inside the premises to reporters at the meeting. But a member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chinedu Ugwa, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Iwuanyanwu was confirmed as the main chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo because there was no voice against what appeared in the meeting.

Mr. Ugwa, who attended the meeting, said Iwuanyanwu was confirmed as the senior chairman through a voice vote.

“The new president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has been elected through the recruitment process of the governors of the seven states that make up Ohanaeze. The admission was made after an admonition by elders in Imo State because no one was coming to question or question his apparition. So it is in the form of an election,” he said.

Iwuanyanwu speaks

In his inauguration speech, Mr. Iwuanyanwu expressed his happiness at his acceptance as the supreme chairman of the Igbo group, saying that “providence and the love of the Igbo people” propelled him to the position.

“I thank you for giving me the opportunity to lead Ndigbo at this time. With our collective efforts and support, Ndigbo will rise again.

“I, therefore, have a duty to bravely defend the Igbo course and I promise Imeobi and all Igbo people that I will not fail them by the grace of God,” Mr. Iwuanyanwu said.

The new senior president said he “did his best to serve the Igbo both in wartime and in peacetime” and that, as a young man, he learned his resolve to serve the Igbo from his father.

He said he had never “entertained” the idea of ​​Ohanaeze becoming a senior president and had unsuccessfully sought to become Nigeria’s president three times.

Southeast agenda, Ohanaeze

Mr. Iwuanyanwu, while clarifying his administration’s priorities, said he would make a “special call” to President Muhammadu Buhari before Nnamdi Kanu, the arrested leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), gets out. office on May 29.

“Nnamdi Kanu is very decisive for any discussion (on security) and peace cannot be negotiated while Nnamdi Kanu is in prison,” he said, noting that the Abuja Court of Appeal dropped terrorism charges against Mr. Kanu

“There is also a report that his health is deteriorating. I think it is important that he be released to go to his doctors, so that he does not die in prison.’

The new leader Ohanaeze also vowed that the South-East will get an additional state, explaining that the South-East is the only region in Nigeria with five states.

“Several political conferences have recommended the creation of an additional state in the southeast to increase the number of states to six. So far, that hasn’t happened.

“I will ensure that during my tenure (as the Chief Executive of Ohanaeze) an additional state is created for the South-East,” assured Mr. Iwuanyanwu.

Chief Executive Ohanaeze listed other priorities of his administration, including the revival of agriculture, and the revival of industries and the education system in the Southeast, with a focus on information and communication technology.

These include: Repositioning the health sector in the region, assessing the possibility of generating electricity from coal deposits in Enugu and the creation of the Ohanaeze investment company and cultural hub.

The meeting was attended by the five South East governors: Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) Charles Soludo (Anambra), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi State, represented by his deputy Kelechi Igwe), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia, represented by his deputy). , Ude Chukwu) and Hope Uzodinma (Imo, represented by his deputy, Placid Njoku).

They include Labor Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Governor-elect of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, former Governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim and former Chieftain of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Adolphus Wabara, among others.