Buhari Pledges to Work with New Leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo

• Okorocha congratulates Nwodo, Opara for election
Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said he looked forward to working with the new leadership of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation,  Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, congratulated Chief John Nwodo on his election as the President-General of the group.

The president said he believed that Nwodo was eminently qualified for the job, given his long years of distinguished service to the nation, which included, Minister of Civil Aviation in the Second Republic under President Shehu Shagari and Minister of Information and Culture during the administration of General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

The statement said: “As Nwodo prepares to settle down with his team to implement his vision for Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the President appeals to Ndigbo as well as the wider community of Nigerians to support the new leadership to fulfill their mandate in these challenging times.”

Buhari said he looked forward to working with the new leadership and assured Ohanaeze Ndigbo that his administration would continue to be a partner-in-progress in implementing suggestions, measures and programmes to advance the unity, development and prosperity of Nigeria.
The president wished the Nwodo-led Ohanaeze Ndigbo a peaceful and prosperous tenure.
Meanwhile, Governor of Imo State, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has congratulated Nwodo on his deserving election as the new President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and said that the delegates to the election and indeed, Ndigbo in general have made a wise choice.

The governor also expressed happiness for the elections of DIG Hilary Opara (rtd) and Mr. Uche Okwukwu as the Deputy National President-General and Secretary-General respectively of the Igbo apex body.
He charged Nwodo and his team to bring their wealth of experience to bear in piloting the affairs of the Pan-Igbo organisation and pursue those policies that would quicken or accelerate the development and growth of Igbo land in particular and Nigeria in general.

According to Okorocha, with the outcome of the Enugu election, one can conveniently vouch that the future is very bright for Ndigbo both at home and in the diaspora and that Ndigbo could  not have made better choices than the personalities that emerged in Enugu.

He assured the new Ohanaeze executive of the cooperation of the governors in the South-east and added that the unity of Ndigbo including their leaders should be strengthened now, more than ever before, while ensuring that Ndigbo get their due in corporate Nigeria.

The governor also commended Igbo leaders like Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Senator Ken Nnamani, Igwe Alfred Achebe of Onitsha, Chief Okwey Nwodo, Prof. ABC Nwosu and others, who made the election a hitch-free exercise.
He wishes the new leaders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo a successful tenure.