Ohanaeze, WIC Warn Against Plot To Remove Ekweremadu

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has warned those threatening to harm the deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, to desist from doing so or face the consequences.

In a statement issued yesterday by its secretary general, Dr Joe Nwaorgu, and made available to Daily Sun, the group said the Igbo people were fully prepared to defend Ekweremadu from any attempt to harm him.

Nwaorgu said: “Anybody threatening to harm Ekweremadu on account of the position he currently occupies should be ready to face the consequences as he enjoys the strong support of his people who are ready to defend him anytime and any day.

“It was a well known fact that Ndigbo voted massively for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election and they are ready to stand by those they elected to represent them at various levels of government.

“We are watching what is happening at the national level closely and we want to let the world know that we are solidly behind our son, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.  I am saying it loud and clear that Senator Ekweremadu, who was duly elected by his colleague as deputy president of the Senate, is owned by a people and his people, Ndigbo are behind him.”

Ekweremadu has been under attack over allegations of altering the Senate rules on processes of election of presiding officers of the upper legislative chamber. Also, in a separate statement signed by its media director, Acho Orabuchi, the World Igbo Congress (WIC), said the Ndigbo in the Diaspora were against the intimidation, blackmail, threat to life and freedom, being used to force Ekweremadu to resign his position as deputy Senate President.

Orabuchi said: 

“Senator Ike Ekweremadu shall not resign a position he clearly and legally won in a fair and free election setting, an election in which his peers freely participated and overwhelmingly elected him based on his impeccable credentials and unparalleled antecedents. There is no provision in the Nigerian Constitution that states a minority member will not be elected a principal officer in the Senate.”

Also speaking, an Enugu elder statesman, Vita Abba, advised the members of the APC to embrace the emergence of Ekweremadu in the true spirit of democracy.

These warnings followed recent media reports alerting threats on the life of Ekweremadu and alleged plans to arrest him.

Earlier, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa had said that the plot by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to remove Ekweremadu, will end in futility.