The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has debunked reports that the Chairman, Council of Elders of the group, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, referred to the Yoruba as political rascals.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, while describing the claims as “falsehood”, said the group will resist any attempt to paint the 2023 presidential election with an ethnic tar.

It made this known via a statement issued on Sunday by the National Publicity Secretary of the Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia.

The statement partly read: “Our attention has been drawn to the fake news making the rounds that the Chairman, Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, CFR (Ahaejiagamba) referred to the Yoruba as political rascals.

“This is a typical falsehood, fabricated by social media entrepreneurs, decorated with wings, expanded with venoms, injected with ethnic nuances, and propelled to fly to various corners, fronts, and heights in order to create inter-ethnic mistrust between the age-long partners in the social, cultural, religious and economic development of Nigeria. Indeed it is a lie from the pit of hell.

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“At any time in history, there is often a tug of war between two major groups; mostly the good people with conscience on one hand and the devious insidious minds on the other. However, the moral force of the godly will always countervail the unconscionable. This helps to keep the world in an ontological equilibrium.

“So, as much as some mischief makers will twist the speech by Iwuanyanwu, the truth remains that Ahaejiagamba holds the Yoruba in very high esteem and he used the Awka event to express it. The emphasis is that we must not attribute the ugly event in Lagos to the good people of Yoruba ethnicity, rather, it was the handiwork of rascals, hooligans, spivs, charlatans, miscreants, and dregs of Lagos society.

“It is important to highlight that Chief Iwuanyanwu is a renowned patriotic detribalized Nigerian. He enjoyed the fidelity, confidence, solidarity, and support of the Yoruba when he was in active business and politics.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Ohanaeze Ndigbo will resist any attempt to paint the 2023 presidential election with an ethnic tar. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Peoples Congress (APC) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) enjoyed the support of eminent Igbo sons and daughters.

“It is also on record that the emergence of Peter Obi and the success he recorded in the presidential election was by Nigerians of all ethnicity, class, and creed.

“This accounts for why the Ohanaeze was about the last to adopt Peter Obi as a presidential candidate of the Labour Party. Ohanaeze rather re-affirmed and indeed reaffirms its stand on the position of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) led by Chief E K Clarke and Chief Ayo Obasanjo,” Ogbonnia stated.

The Star