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From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
As the 2023 Presidential elections zeroes into weeks and days, all eyes are on Peter Obi and Ifeanyi Okowa in what some analysts have described as an epic battle for supremacy in Igbo land.
For Obi, Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party and Okowa, Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, the two gladiators shares some similarities, strengths and advantages based on available facts and figures.
Peter Obi is an Igbo man from Anambra State while Ifeanyi Okowa is also an Igbo man from the Anioma, Igbo speaking part of Delta state. Obi was also a former governor of Anambra State while Okowa is about finishing his second tenure as governor of Delta State.
Expectedly, external observers believe that most Igbos will support and vote for Peter Obi, including the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which has branches in all Igbo speaking States and local government areas in the South East and South South geo-political zones, including Rivers and Delta States.
Besides, the National Vice-President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Damian Okeke- Ogene, (Mbuze) from Nanka, a sister community of Agulu, where Peter Obi comes from is Peter Obi’s South East campaign manager.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo membership extends to Igbos in other States of Nigeria and even the Diaspora as well as traditional rulers in Igbo land.
Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa as Atiku’s running mate can be considered as one of the most prominent Igbos in the PDP with strong support in different parts of Igbo land which can be confirmed by the strong support he got from Igbo PDP delegates at the PDP national primaries.
More importantly, Okowa has one strong and formidable force of grassroots support that spans some 4,630 communities in the South East under the umbrella of Association of South East Past Presidents-General (ASEPP).
In addition to being in control of all the communities in the South East, some PGs who are now traditional rulers in the South East are ASEPP members.
Unlike serving Presidents- General, the Association of South East Past Presidents General ( ASEPP) members are autonomous and not under the control of any government and therefore do not take directives from State or local government authorities, in terms of political support which their members say is a very strong advantage to Okowa.
Public Relations Officer (ASEPP), Prof. Ukpabi N. Ukpabi in a recent treatise said with as many as five members in every community as against only one serving PG, Association of South East Past Presidents General (ASEPP) commands a lot of influence in every community as leaders of thought which he said will work in favour of Okowa.
Recently, ASEPP hosted Governor Ifeanyi Okowa at Toscana Hotels Enugu where they conferred on him the award of Igbo Man of the Year and also presented a book written by the Association titled: “Ifeanyi Okowa, our Son and Brother”.
According to ASEPP PRO, Professor Ukpabi, the award was in recognition of Governor Okowa’s spectacular commitment to the promotion of Igbo cause while the book is a detailed well-researched documentary that debunked the insinuation that Dr. Okowa is not Igbo.
Defending his Association’s support for Governor Okowa, Professor Ukpabi said it was in line with their belief and opinion that Igbos should not put their eggs in one basket in their quest for political power in national affairs, saying that Igbos should learn to always have plan B in their political plans.
This he said is where Igbos should learn from Northern politicians who always have option B in their political calculations where they can fall back on in case if their plan A fails. He said this was also why Igbos suffered so much from the failure of Biafra because they had no option B to fall back on.
In his words: “In the present scenario, Igbos should go along with both Peter Obi and Governor Okowa, so that where one fails, Igbos can go with the other, believing that two of them cannot fail at the same time. But let us not lose out completely. That is why ASEPP is currently on a wide campaign for Governor Okowa in all the communities in the South East.”
“Igbos will be very happy if Peter Obi wins the presidency, but if he loses, and Ifeanyi Okowa wins, Igbos will still be in the big picture of Nigerian leadership. Our ultimate objective is to have an Igbo son in Aso Rock as President or Vice president by May this year.
“Given the above scenario, it becomes obvious that Peter Obi and Ifeanyi Okowa are in the race to win and Igbos are going to battle with both on February 25th. Head or tail, we win” he said.
