Ohanaeze’s endorsement of Atiku, an exercise in futility – Okorocha

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state has faulted the purported endorsement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, by the Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

He described it as a mere exercise in futility as the organisation is neither a political party nor has voting units.

In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, the Imo governor said this is not the first time the organisation was endorsing a candidate and failed, stressing that there would be no difference this time around.

The statement read: “Ohanaeze is a socio-cultural organisation and not a registered political party and there is no voting unit or polling booth called Ohanaeze.

“So, its adoption of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should be seen as a folklore and should not give anybody concern.

“The adoption is neither here nor there, since it has no electoral value. This is also not the first time Ohanaeze has adopted a PDP Presidential Candidate. It did that in 2015, yet, PDP failed with its Presidential Candidate, while APC won with its Presidential Candidate.

“And one would have expected Ohanaeze to exercise caution this time following what happened in 2015. Indeed, the organization should have done things differently especially when it remembers that all Igbos whether in PDP, APC, APGA, ADC or SDP are presumed to be members of Ohanaeze.

“Not minding the adoption, President Muhammadu Buhari will win in the South-East and the general election proper. So, Igbos in APC should remain focused and not to make the adoption an issue, when it is not an issue in all ramifications,” the statement added.