PDP CHAIR: OKWUAKA TIPS MADUEKWE

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Obinna Okwuaka, has said the Secretary of the Presidential Campaign Council, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, should be made the substantive chairman of the ruling party.

He described Maduekwe as a man of incredible promise, high intelligence, grand dreams, personal resilience and compelling presence.

Speaking via telephone, he said his support for the former Minister of Foreign Affairs was borne out of the fact that in the face of adversity he would not flinch but move ahead with more grit.

He urged President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP to fill the vacant national chairmanship position from South East geo-political zone before the April elections to mitigate the plight of the Igbo.

'As leading political parties move into the forthcoming general elections, Ndigbo appear disparaged, roundly insulted, gravely taken for granted and gratuitously cajoled. A survey of their preparations reveal that the Igbo are not taken into confidence by any of the political parties, to the extent that no Igbo man is a presidential or vice-presidential candidate.

'While that is bad enough, the chairmanship slot in the PDP, which was allocated to the South East geo-political zone and indeed, in the hands of the Igbo, was taken away with impunity thereby compounding their plight and woes.

'It is sad and regrettable that political parties have treated Ndigbo this way and with disdain; a majority tribe marginalized to the dustbin of history with impunity. I refuse to believe that the political parties came together to carry out the dastardly act against the Igbo. The sins, obviously, are not in the people and whether with their leaders or not, is an issue of conjecture,' he said.

He cautioned that it would be risky for any political party or presidential candidate to campaign in Igboland without the tangible interest and position of Ndigbo in his party clearly defined.

'The Igbo electorate will not be dragged into any debate on how to vote. The voting will be dictated and directed by post-election status and manifest recognition of the Igbo by the parties and not necessarily by what their leaders say or where they stand.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Igbo do not believe in promises and rhetoric. They take you serious if you do not trample on or insult their sensibilities,' he said.