The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has said it would not congratulate the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the vice president-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima, now due to the decision of the second runner-up in the presidential election, Mr Peter Obi to challenge the victory in court.
National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Alex Ogbonnia, who spoke on behalf of Ohanaeze, said that the group endorsed the announcement made by Obi with regard to the 2023 poll, noting that the election, when compared with previous ones, was marred with abnormalities.
Ogbonnia added that Ohanaeze does not doubt the capacity of the former Anambra State governor to recover his mandate on account of his past record.
He said: “The election was marred by a lot of irregularities that have not been recorded in history. To that extent, we endorse the speech made by Obi with respect to the 2023 election.
“Obi also highlighted the irregularities, he highlighted that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, gave us false impressions about how they will conduct the election, saying he is going to court to recover his mandate.
“I have no doubt in Obi’s capacity to recover his mandate because he had done so in Anambra. By God’s grace, by the time he recovers the mandate; everything in the scenario will change.
“So, we cannot begin to talk about the president-elect when we are sure that the wrong person has been declared the winner. Obi said he has evidence that he won the election. To that extent, it is difficult for us to begin to embrace Tinubu as president-elect.”