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The assistant legal
adviser of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation,
Onyibo Chukwu, has denied the group’s endorsement of the presidential
ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.

Mr. Chukwu told
journalists in Abuja on Thursday that there was never a time the
organisation took the decision to endorse Mr. Jonathan, as claimed by
the group’s president, Ralph Uwechue, alleging that he (Uwechue) was
executing a personal agenda.

“I am a PDP member
and a strong supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan, but if Ohanaeze
has to endorse him, it has to be done with decorum, and not through
this ambush tactics of Ralph Uwechue,” Mr. Chukwu said.

The senatorial
aspirant from Enugu State explained that Ohanaeze has three different
organs through which it takes crucial decisions – the national
executive, Ime Obi, and National Assembly – and insisted that none of
them ever deliberated on the matter.

He warned that Mr.
Uwechue should not be allowed to bring crisis into the organisation
because the Igbo race is already in a dilemma.

Personal project

According to him,
the way the group’s president is going about the support for Mr.
Jonathan might jeopardise his chances in the five Igbo states, pointing
out that some of the people are disturbed by the development.

“Uwechue must not
be allowed to bring crisis into Ohanaeze,” he said. “He is using this
his pro-Jonathan project to blackmail Ndigbo. He is putting the Igbo
race into very serious dilemna.

“We want to
maintain good relationship with the people of the South- South
geo-political zone, but not through this personal aggrandizement of one
man,” he said.

Mr. Chukwu said the
organisation does not have the kind of money which was used to
advertise its support for the president on television and other media
outfits. He said he will bring up the matter at the National Executive
Committee (NEC) meeting of the organisation scheduled to hold on
Saturday, October 30.