Major General Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma (retd.) has warned the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, not to be duped into returning to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, under any guise.
The former general, who provided the advice Thursday night while appearing on the July edition of the Ikengaonline town hall meeting, stated that Obi’s political interests would not be protected in the PDP as it currently stands.
He urged him not to trust the PDP, which idolises the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, whose allegiance to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is undeniable.
Ijioma, speaking on the topic “Ndigbo and the 2027 Politics,” said the veiled overtures for Obi’s return to PDP were suspicious and a booby trap designed to cage him in and ultimately ruin his presidential quest.
This came as he warned the former Anambra state governor to be cautious about his relationship with the coalition African Democratic Congress (ADC) and advised him to leave the alliance if he was not certain of receiving its presidential ticket.
Ijioma asserted that Obi is perhaps the only presidential aspirant in Nigeria today with the most national appeal and that he will win the presidential election regardless of his platform.
He stated that the Nigerian masses, who had already been frustrated by famine and poverty as a result of the APC’s mismanagement, were willing to follow the former Anambra state governor to any political party of his choice.
He said, “If I’m Peter Obi’s adviser, I will never advise him to go back to the PDP. With what is happening, the PDP is a carcass, and I believe that it is only vultures that feast on carcasses. Returning to PDP with Wike hanging on there is risky. There’s no guarantee that his interest will not be undermined.
“Another important thing I want to say is this, and Peter Obi should hear this: He should be very careful with the coalition. If he is not sure of getting the presidential ticket of the coalition ADC, he should leave them and join any other party at all where he will emerge as the presidential candidate.
“The masses of Nigeria who understand how important Peter Obi is will rally round him in whichever party that he decides to go to. He will win in 2027.
“Any party Peter Obi joins today, that party will become the rallying pot for the Nigerian masses who are at the receiving end of the bad governance by APC for the last 10 years.
“Nigerians have come to accept Peter Obi as a politician of integrity who is really out there to redress issues.
“The rest of the Nigerian masses, not the political elite, have come to accept Peter Obi as one that has the requisite qualification to lead Nigeria in 2027.
“I say this because I know that this present government, the APC government that started in 2015, has really plunged Nigeria into the abyss.
“The Nigerian people who are feeling the bite of the abysmal performance of the APC administration are yearning and calling for Peter Obi. I want to refer us to what the former president, Gen. Obasanjo, said. He advised Nigerians to give Igbos a chance. Nigeria has been governed by Hausa, Fulani, and Yoruba presidents, even minority presidents, but they have not had a truly Nigerian president of Igbo extraction.
“I urge Nigerians to rally around Peter Obi because Peter Obi has what it takes to take Nigeria out of the woods. It is only the Nigerian political elites and the Igbo political elites that are fighting against Peter Obi because of their own selfish interests.
“I want Ndigbo as a group of people, both at home and in the diaspora, to continue to rally around Peter Obi because I do not see any better candidate from all parts of Nigeria other than Peter Obi.”
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")