KINGSLEY EBERE
Facts have emerged how Igbo political merchants, under the new organization known as G50, perfected plans to scuttle massive votes for the APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, in the coming election thereby jeopardizing all efforts of Igbo APC led by Chief Joe Igbokwe in Lagos State.
P.M.EXPRESS gathered that the G50 group was recently inaugurated under the guise of supporting only Governor Sanwo-Olu’s reelection with Chief Festus Uchenna, Chief Oliver Akubueze and Chief Everistus Ozonweke as Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary respectively.
The motive behind the formation of the group, according to an insider, was to mislead the Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, that Chief Festus Uchenna, who lives in Abuja, can bring the Igbo together in Lagos State and get block Igbo votes for his reelection bid in order to extort money from him.
The group actually invited different groups under the guise of making peace among them, then took videos and photographs to the Governor claiming that he was capable of using the peace initiative to force them to support him for the second tenure bid.
However, the plot failed over betrayals and mistrust among them while hoping that Governor Sanwo-Olu will release fund for campaign.
So far, the coordinator of Igbo APC in Lagos State, Eze Uche Dimgba (Okpotemba), has been sacked for allegedly betraying Chief Joe Igbokwe by joining the new group to work against Tinubu and APC in Lagos State.
He was replaced with Chief Chris Ekwilo, who is the Chairman of Ohanaeze Political Forum created by Chief Solomon Aguene.
However, after Chief Ekwilo and his Deputy, Chief Uche Babatata, including Chief Anslem Udoka a.k.a Orobo Aregbe rejoined Igbo APC, having dumped Ohanaeze Political Forum, Okpotemba refused to step down and insisted that Chief Joe Igbokwe cannot remove him.
P.M.EXPRESS investigation also revealed that the core members of the G50 group were the same set of people that had already endorsed the PDP Governorship candidate in Lagos State a.k.a Jandor during the Igbo Day celebration organized by the factional Ohanaeze President, Chief Sunday Ossai on 3rd December, 2023 at the Police College, Lagos.
What the Igbo in Lagos State, who are core supporters of APC and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, are now asking is what was the purpose of forming G50 whereas Igbo have already had two strong organizations namely Igbo in APC led by Chief Igbokwe and Ohanaeze Ndigbo Political Forum created by Chief Solomon Ogbonna and led by Chief Ekwilo.
An insider among the group revealed that the purpose of creating G50 by the merchants was to use it to extort money from Governor Sanwo-Olu on his reelection bid and to consolidate on taking over political leadership in Lagos State.
This was disclosed by the founder and first President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State, Chief John Uche, who described the group as being for political merchandise, whose aim is to deceive Governor Sanwo-Olu and the APC in Lagos State.
He wondered how the Governor and APC in Lagos State believed that the group will deliver Igbo votes for his reelection bid without any single structure.
He explained that their leader, Chief Festus Uchenna, lives in Abuja and has no single structure in Lagos to deliver Igbo votes to APC in Lagos. Those he appointed as members have no single structure right from Wards, Local Government areas and State levels and yet they promised to deliver block Igbo votes to Governor Sanwo-Olu.
He stated that Chief Uchenna has been threatening that he will deal with anyone that challenges him because he has contacts in Aso Rock, DSS and Police. “But would the threat translate to Igbo votes for APC in Lagos State?” he asked.
Chief Uche warned that the Igbo in Lagos State should not be held responsible if APC loses the election by dealing with political merchants, whose mission was to extort money from the Governor and not getting Igbo votes for APC in Lagos State.
He stated that what was happening was caused by Ohanaeze Ndigbo President, Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene, by listening to self centered people who are advising him wrongly to go back to Chief Akubueze and Eze Okpotemba.
He explained that Chìef Ogbonna Aguene, as President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State, has been deceiving Ndigbo by telling them that Governor, Sanwo-Olu is the best thing and the messiah that happened to Ndigbo in Lagos.
He asked: “What has Mr. Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu done for Ndigbo in Lagos? He has not given us even Local Government Chairman in Lagos. Even Hon. Jude Idimogu, who is currently in the House of Assembly through PDP, and later joined APC could not get his ticket back to the House”.
“Is it because of the bags of rice he is giving to Chief Solomon every December and small money given to him every month? Is it what made him to join political merchants from Abuja to Lagos, who came to hijack some Igbo structures including Ohanaeze structure in Lagos?”
“Every time you meet Solomon, he will tell you that Mr. Governor, Sanwo-Olu, is the best governor in the Lagos, Nigeria and world. Has he done one quarter of what the late Governor Michael Otedola did for Ndigbo during his tenure as Governor of Lagos State? I heard that Mr. Governor doesn’t listen to him, rather he is listening to Festus and his gangs. I think it is a shame on Solomon to join the people, who said that they came to make peace for Ndigbo, but the other way round, they used Ndigbo in Lagos to make money in this political season” Chief Uche stated.