Ohanaeze condemns plots to frame up Senator Ike Ekweremadu

www.odogwublog.com reports that Ohanaeze Youth Council ( OYC) has condemned the alleged plots by the Federal Government to frame up the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, saying such plot is an affront against Ndigbo.  

The apex Igbo body also sued for peace as the Supreme Court judgment on Abia governorship tussle is being expected on Friday.

OYC in a press statement signed by its National Secretary Mazi Okwu Nnabuike; and the National Publicity Secretary,  Mazi Obinna Adibe, respectively, said the plot was calculated at destroying Ekweremadu's political career.

 Ekweremadu had last week on the floor of the Senate, accused the Presidency of desperately witch-hunting him with a view to roping him into a stage-managed corruption scandal in order to incarcerate him and eventually ruin his political career.

He had during the Senate plenary raised the alarm that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was planning to frame him up and raid his residences, during which the agency would claim recovery of some cash and arms.

Worried by the development, OYC cautioned the Federal Government against clamping down on Ekweremadu who is today the only highest political office holder of South East extraction.

According to the apex Igbo youth body, any attempt to cage Ekweremadu will  undermine the democratic process in Nigeria.

OYC warned against turning Nigeria into the theatre of oppression while describing the plot against Ekweremadu as "a desperate and orchestrated plot to stifle the remaining voice of the opposition".

The statement read in parts: "We are greatly perturbed by this recent alarm by the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu. There is a famous idiom that 'no smoke without fire.' As such, his outcry is not to be dismissed with a wave of the hand.

"The entire youths in Igbo land are miffed with this ceaseless attempt by the presidency, through its different agencies to intimidate, coerce and cow down every known opposition voice, especially from Igbo land.

"First it was the alleged forgery of Senate Rules, but as the presidency lost that battle, the game plan has moved to hiding under the whistle-blowing policy in order to silence Ekweremadu completely.

"We rise today to say no to treating the South-East as a conquered territory. We equally condemn a situation wherein the government procures whistle, hands them over to some people and tells them when and where to blow.

"The desperate actors in this government should not forget that save for democratic dispositions of former President Goodluck Jonathan, they would not have come anywhere close to power. The then government never harassed them out of the political space. So, having climbed up through the ladder, the APC government should not destroy the ladder.

"Everybody must not join APC; doing so is not even in the best interest of the country as such a slide into a one-party state will wreck havoc on the Country.

"We are, therefore, calling on the presidency to leave Ekweremadu alone and allow him carry on with his mandate. We say enough to this mindless victimization; we say enough to this needless harassment."