Thursday, December 16, 2010

Jonathan, IBB supporters clash at Igbo summit

Battle for the 2011 presidency shifted to Owerri, Imo state yesterday, as supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan and General Ibrahim Babangida engaged in an altercation.
The Igbo Political Forum, which is believed to be working for IBB had scheduled a stakeholder's conference at the Concorde Hotel, Owerri, but was denied access to the venue by the hotel management and security agencies.
Those locked out include former Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, former Senate President Ken Nnamani, former governors Jim Nwobodo, Achike Udenwa, Sam Egwu and Chris Ngige.
Others are Ambassador George Obiozor, former Minister of Education, Prof. Chinwe Obaji; former Minister of Health, Prof. ABC Nwosu; Air commodore Luke Ochulor, Prince BB Apugo, Senator Ben Obi, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Chief Dubem Onyia, Chief Simon Okeke and Chief Chyna Iwuanyanwu.
On arrival at the hotel for the forum Ekwueme and his group were reportedly told by management of the hotel and security operatives who took over the premises of the hotel that the event would not hold. But the former number two citizen insisted that the conference must go ahead under any condition. They relocated to an open field in the hotel to hold the conference. 
As the meeting progressed, a group believed to be pro-Jonathan arrived at the venue with posters of the President   singing solidarity songs. Another group also came displaying banners with the photographs of former national security adviser Aliyu Gusau.
The association under the umbrella of Igbo Political Forum is suspected to be supporting the north for the 2011 presidential election. This, it was gathered did not go down well with governors of the south east who had taken a position to back President Jonathan.
Ekwueme, Egwu, Udenwa and Soludo had earlier gathered at Modotel in the morning and held closed door meeting from where they took off to Concorde Hotel.
The former vice-president and Udenwa said it was unfortunate that they could be denied access to a hotel in south east even after the group had paid for the venue two weeks ago. Mbakwe built this hotel; I renovated it when it collapsed. If it is true that the sitting governor gave the order that we should not enter here, it is quite unfortunate, Udenwa said.
They said it was not true that the forum is anti-Jonathan or pro-any of the presidential aspirants; rather the conference was a platform for Ndigbo to chart a new course for their political future.
While declaring the summit open at the hotel garden, chairman of the forum Chief Okeke said 2015 is the turn of the Igbo to produce the president of the country and noted that our door is open for discussion for any of the presidential aspirants.
He said the Igbo Political Forum is a child of necessity borne out of the persistent crying need for our people to meet and discuss issues of common political interest to Ndigbo generally and south east geo-political zone in particular.
He said no matter the name the forum was called, the purpose was to offer a veritable vehicle used by a broad spectrum of Ndigbo to respond to current political issues of special interest to our people.
He recalled that on the 10th August 10, the south east consultative forum entered into a political agreement with the northern leaders political forum for collaboration towards our realization of our goals in 2015 and 2011 respectively. As you all know, this issue has generated a lot of political interest and comments. At the right time the issue will receive adequate treatment here by various speakers at this summit, he said.
In his speech Senator Jim Nwobodo said the south east should be allowed to make a choice in the present political situation, saying that the zone has no candidate. He said the future of the Igbo is very bright and the race will produce the President of the country in 2015.
We have no candidate. We are here to discuss the future of the Igbo. I want to send this poser to everybody here. Take three minutes to think about this. Have we weighed the consequences of making a choice? While making a choice are we mortgaging the conscience and future of the Igbo? Are we making a choice which will allow us sleep in the night? The future of the Igbo is very bright. I can see an Igbo president in 2015. I can see a beacon pointing towards the Promised Land, he said.
Part of the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and signed by Chief Chyna Iwuanyanwu, stated: On Friday, September 24, 2010, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim issued a directive to various security agencies in Imo State to abort the well-advertised all-political stakeholders conference which was slated to hold at Imo Concorde Hotel on Monday, September 27. No reason was advanced for this strange and inexplicable directive.
Between Friday and Sunday, the secretary of Igbo Political Forum, the conveners of the conference, suffered hours of interrogation on why such an open interactive forum of leading Igbo political, business, professional bodies, youth, women and intelligentsia and senior media executives should be convened in the first place. 
Equally, all efforts made by the conveners of the conference to convince Governor Ohakim and the security agencies to allow the conference to proceed unhindered were unsuccessful. This was in spite of the fact that Imo state governor, as well as the governors of the entire south eastern states were duly informed about the conference and invited to attend it. Equally also, the relevant security agencies were informed about the conference and had, indeed, sent out signals to their officers and men, putting them on alert about this all-important political event.
The conveners of the conference met on Sunday, September 26, and resolved that the conference will go ahead as planned. This decision was taken to uphold the people's right to free assembly and expression of lawful views as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The decision to go ahead with the conference was also meant to send a clear message that peoples democratic right to express their views on important political issues that affect them should not and cannot be abridged under any guise in a democratic society.
Meanwhile, Governor Ohakim has denied having any hand in the locking out of the group from the hotel. A statement by his chief press secretary, Mr. Henry Ekpe, said: The governor has no hand in the aborted rally by a section of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Owerri. Instead it was a rival group who wrote the police asking that the meeting be stopped. But detractors are pointing fingers at Gov Ohakim. It is quite ridiculous
 State police commissioner, Mr. Aloysius Okorie said the command never issued any order preventing the group from holding its meeting at the venue. He said the presence of policemen at the hotel was to maintain law and order.
Nobody should associate the police with what happened at the venue. Policemen were at Concorde to maintain security. Nobody was harassed by any police man. If they were not allowed to stay in the hotel, that order is from the hotel management not from the police. We were there for security only. It is not our business to allow or disallow them from using the hotel. Our duty is to provide security and we did that at the venue, he said.
Part of the resolutions reached at the conference, include  
that the Igbo 2015 presidency project is non-negotiable and that the equality of the zones must be achieved through the creation of a sixth state in the south-east under special constitutional regime as was done in the case of the Doctrine of Necessity that elevated Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to the position of Acting President and as may be accomplished given the request by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for extension of time to conduct the 2011 general election.

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