Ohaneze did not endorse Atiku – Gen. JOJ Okoloagu (Rtd)

Gen. JOJ Okoloagu (Rtd) is a member All Progressives Congress (APC) Board of Trustees (BoT), member of Board of Nigeria Insurance Deposit Corporation (NDIC) and Member of Ime-obi Ohaneze Ndigbo which is the think-tank of the Igbo Socio-cultural group.

In this interview with Peoples Daily Ochiaka Ugwu, Okoloagu spoke on the purported adoption of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate, Alh. Atiku Abubakar by Ohaneze and described it as a nullity with no effect. He said that APC will win landslide at the polls. Excerpts.

 Gen JOJ Okoloagu (Rtd)

What do you make out of the recent endorsement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar by Ohaneze Ndi-Igbo which you are a member of the Ime-Obi?

 I started playing active part in Ohaneze Ndigbo when I retired from military service in 2002. Precisely in 2003, 2004, 2005 i was a member of the group led by Retired Admiral Ndubisi Kanu that toured round the entire states of the North and other parts of the country to harmonize our members, because Ohaneze was having problem then. The preponderance of opinion is that Ohaneze Ndigbo is a very important organization that should represent the socio-cultural interest of the Igbos. 

I have consistently attended the meetings of Ohaneze, but the fact remains that it is not the first time that the leadership of Ohaneze is trailed into politics. I am conscious of the fact that I joined political party to be precise, the Action Congress (AC). I was a founding member of AC that I used to contest for senatorial election in 2007 which I won even in the tribunal, but lost at the Appeal Court to corruption. That was when I tested the corruption in the judiciary. Be that as it may, because I joined politics, it did not deter me from attending crucial meetings of Ohaneze then. I want to also point out that I am a founding member of All Progressives Congress (APC) that is probably why I am a member of Board of Trustees (BoT) representing Enugu State.

Having given this political background, I like to say that Ohaneze Ndigbo by constitution and effect supposed to be insulated from all forms of politics. Any leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo that has dabbled into politics has always ended badly. This is not the first time, because Ohaneze endorsed Obasanjo’s third term ambition upon the fact that we cried, shouted and some of us who believe in God went back to God praying that it will not happen. The third term ambition of Obasanjo then would have been the end of Nigeria. 

They did the same thing again during Jonathan, gambled into politics, and endorsed Jonathan in 2011 and 2015. I want to take you people to certain perspectives. There is an Igbo adage that says that “If an Old Woman falls twice, there is need to take stock of the content of her basket”. I as a chieftain of APC have never cared about the endorsement because I know it will be of no effect. The Igbos by nature are republican and you don’t go and ridicule yourself by claiming to do what you know is impossible. 

What of the timing and circumstances leading to the endorsement?

Coming to the significance and circumstances of the endorsement, I want us to draw certain common sense questions which I am directing to entire Igbo race. Assuming but not conceding that Ohaneze adopted PDP Presidential candidate, what becomes of son and daughter of Igbo extraction who are in the race. By the time of the so called adoption of Atiku, Oby Ezekwesili was very much in the race and Prof. Kingsley Moghalu who is waxing strong by the day was also there. He was adopted by Wole Soyinka not long ago. How can a socio-cultural organization claiming to be representing the interest of a race make an adoption to the exclusion of its own people who are also contesting the same position?

So that tells you the nonsense that was made of the name of Ohaneze. Was Prof. Moghalu consulted to obtain his consent? Has he withdrawn from the presidential race? Was Oby Ezekwesili consulted even though she withdrew from the presidential race eventually? These are children of Igbo extraction, you don’t do such thing. No Socio-Cultural organization dabbles into such things. There was an attempt by Afenifere to do same, but they were shut down by prominent Yoruba sons and daughters informing them that it was not in their place to do such a thing. It is called in the legal palace “Impossibility of performance”. I am an old lawyer with almost 40 years experience in the bar. You can’t without the consent of an individual alienate his constitutional right and assume you are speaking for her or him. That is why the Ime-obi  Ohaneze Ndigbo as constituted on 24^th of January, 2019 was on a frolic of his own when they announced the adoption of Atiku Abubakar as a preferred candidate for Ndigbo.

 Let me take you into the workings of the constitution of Ohaneze. I am an old member of Ime-obi and by virtue of the Ohaneze’s constitution; the Ime-obi is actually the think-tank that initiates actions or programs for the good and development of Igbo race. Any decision reached by the Ime-obi of Ohaneze must be presented to Ohaneze general assembly for discussion and approval. It is only after such approval by the Ohaneze General Assembly that a decision reached at Ime-obi Ohaneze will become binding. In the instant case, an Ime-obi Ohaneze was purported to be held in the afternoon of 24^thJanuary, 2019 while Mr. President was visiting Anambra State and by 5pm of the same day, a so called communiqué was issued by the Ime-obi Ohaneze adopting Atiku Abubakar for the presidential election without a formal presentation to the Ohaneze General Assembly. So you can see the futility of the ill-fated communiqué and adoption as announced by the President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo by 6pm of the same day.

 PDP or any other party is not an exclusive Igbo party, therefore it is not qualified for a kind of thing that Ime-obi should consider or adjudicate on. That tells you how and why the action of 24^th January 2019 of Ohaneze leadership is a nullity and of no affect whatsoever. I want to tell you certain underground things that made us not to take it seriously. Ohaneze must have consensus ad idem. That consensus ad idem is absolute before anybody can say he is representing a body.

Was the timing of the meeting right? 

The meeting of Ime-obi Ohaneze was proposed by the President-General, Chief John Nnia Nwodo to be held on 24^th of January 2019 in Enugu. The timing was 3: PM or there are about. Now, the time you were putting this meeting was uncomfortable for us. We don’t know the urgency of the meeting, but if we must meet you have to shift it later in the day when President Buhari must have left Anambra and Enugu where he was visiting. Please note that President Buhari has gone to Anambra to commission Zik’s mausoleum which he completed after many years of abandonment by previous governments. What else is more honourable to the Igbo nation than the commissioning of Zik’s mausoleum? He came with good tidings given the investment APC made in Niger Bridge and road projects. The mere fact that the leadership of Ohaneze contemplated fixing that meeting was in bad taste. 

Again, there are automatic members of Ime-obi Ohaneze, the sitting governors and former governors, sitting President of Senate and former senate presidents and other highly placed people. Senior military officers who have attained my rank and above are also automatic members of Ime-obi. I was not contacted for the meeting; even if I was contacted I wouldn’t give it any effect because I know it was intended to achieve distraction and not for the good of Igbos. The distraction is what we are suffering now because it has sent wrong signal to the youth and Nigerians in general. I do know that somebody like Dr. Chris Ngige, the present Minister for Labour and Employment did even observe that is not possible for them to start until late in the evening. I am aware of all these things. We were thinking that after seeing Mr. President off to the Airport, we will drive to the venue to know the emergency that requires summoning of emergency meeting of Ime-obi Ohaneze. The only time you can summon an emergency meeting of Ohaneze is when any Igbo state is threatened by war.

What will be the punishment for this act?

As I said that the Igbos are republican by nature. When we go back to Ime-obi meeting, we will decide what will happen to them. The punishment is not for public to know because it is a Socio-cultural group. It is not for public consumption. Most importantly, what they did is of no effect until they present it to general assembly.

What are the chances of APC in this election? 

We will win this election but may not perform wonderfully well in the states where we are having internal crisis such as Rivers, Zamfara and Ogun States. APC has performed creditably well in infrastructure development. Nigerians must ask themselves, who put this country in this condition, before you start blaming somebody for not repairing it? Why must we bring the same party that left us in the condition we are back to power in less than four years or after four years of 16 years wreckage? Everybody is blaming APC for not doing magic within four years. APC has spent almost four years repairing the damage caused by PDP and that is what is called in the political palace as “Damage Control”. APC is an agent of damage control because we may not have initiated bogus projects, but we have done a lot for the good of Nigerians.

 In sane society, you can’t be talking of coming back after 16 years of wreckage and blaming your wreckage on one who is doing damage control. Buhari has spent almost four years doing damage control to right the wrongs of the PDP.