News of the nomination of former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, as vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 elections was greeted with a standing ovation during the recent conference of Anambra State Association in the United States of America (ASA-USA) held in Chicago.

Anambra State President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Damian Okeke, disclosed this while fielding questions with newsmen on Wednesday in the state capital, Awka.

His words: “It is heart-warming to state that in faraway 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 journey to 2019 has started and is gathering momentum. Ohanaeze Ndigbo had earlier made its stand clear in line with the South East Summit held on May 21, 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 actualising 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.”

Okeke said that though Ohanaeze is not a political organisation, it is still committed to the political future of Ndigbo and the South East geopolitical zone at large.

According to him, the period of election is not the right time to play to the gallery, adding that though there were some Igbo presidential flag bearers of some political parties, supporting them would be like riding a bicycle to Lagos.

While congratulating Nigerians for voicing out their acceptance of the Atiku/Obi ticket, irrespective of party affiliations, he said that their stance shows that their acceptance cuts across political, religious and tribal divides.

Okeke stressed that “the so-called dissenting voice in the South East will definitely work with the entire Igbo to achieve the set agenda”, saying that Igbos 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 for 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,” the Ohanaeze chieftain said.

He congratulated PDP and its candidate for the wise choice in Peter Obi, saying that his candidature has gained worldwide acceptance and commendation.

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