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Ohanaeze Ndigbo has debunked the news making the rounds that Chairman of its Elders Council, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, referred to Yoruba in Lagos State as political rascals.

The apex Igbo social cultural organisation described the news as a lie from the pit of hell.

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In a statement, yesterday, in Enugu by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia, the group denied that Iwuanyanwu made such a comment while speaking in Awka, Anambra State, on Saturday during an event to mark the one year in office of Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo .

“The report is a typical falsehood, fabricated by social media entrepreneurs, decorated with wings, expanded with venom, injected with ethnic nuances to create inter-ethnic mistrust between the age-long partners in social, cultural, religious and economic development of Nigeria.”

Ogbonnia clarified that what Iwuanyanwu said was, “I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us and the Yorubas…those who attacked Ndigbo in Lagos recently are rascals who should be arrested.”

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He lamented how the Ohanaeze chieftain’s words were mischievously twisted to imply “Yoruba people are political rascals and that we will fight them.”

He said platforms that carried the twisted statement were bent on creating a rift between Igbo and Yoruba.

“As much as some mischief makers will twist the speech by Iwuanyanwu, the truth remains that he holds the Yoruba in a very high esteem and he used the Awka event to express it.”

Ogbonnia said what Iwuanyanwu emphasised in his Awka speech was that no one “must attribute the ugly event in Lagos to the good people of Yoruba, rather, it was the handiwork of rascals, hooligans, charlatans, miscreants and dregs of Lagos society.

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“It is important to highlight that Chief Iwuanyanwu is a renowned, patriotic and detribalized Nigerian who has enjoyed the fidelity, confidence, solidarity and support of the Yoruba when he was in active business and politics. Iwuanyanwu in all his private and public discussions has often commended the profound Yoruba cultural values, intellect and hospitality. He applauds the cordial relationship between the Igbo and the Yoruba, citing that several Igbo are integral parts of various Yoruba communities.”

Iwuanyanwu speaks on his alleged ‘political rascals’ statement

Meanwhile, Iwuanyanwu has charged Igbo to continue to live in peace and harmony with the Yoruba, irrespective of ongoing incitements.

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He was reacting to the comment that he referred to the Yoruba as “political rascals” while condemning the attack of Igbo traders in Lagos State.

He dismissed the comment attributed to him as falsehood, fabricated by social media 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.

He said the Igbo and Yoruba people are neither quarreling nor fighting, even as he added that the Yoruba are a friendly group of people.

He vowed that Ohanaeze Ndigbo would resist any attempt to give the 2023 presidential election an ethnic colouration, saying Bola Tinubu of the All Peoples Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) also enjoyed the support of eminent Igbo sons and daughters.

He further explained that the emergence of Peter Obi and the success he recorded in the presidential election was by Nigerians of all ethnicity, class, and creed.

He said this explains why Ohanaeze was about the last group to adopt Peter Obi as a presidential candidate, but instead re-affirmed its stand on the position of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF).

(Sun)