The Youth wing of apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, has tackled former minister of transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, over his alleged attack on the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu.
Amaechi had while appearing on Channels Television political programme on Thursday night accused Mahmood of frustrating the registration of new political parties.
He also described him as shameless and in the mould of former INEC chairman, Prof Maurice Iwu.
Amaechi did not also spare former President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing him of trying to scuttle the zoning arrangement in the country.
But reacting to the claims, the National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, said the likes of Amaechi should be hiding their faces in shame.
Okwu said having brought calamity upon the country by their actions in the past, Amaechi had no morality to criticise either Yakubu or the current President Bola Tinubu administration.
The Ohanaeze Youths President said it was strange that Yakubu, who has overseen one of the best elections in the country, could come under such attacks from Amaechi.
“It appears that Amaechi and his likes have forgotten that under Prof Mahmood Yakubu, sitting governors lost elections in 2023. While some could not go to the senate, sitting governors have even lost re-election bids.
“These are things that used to be rare in Nigeria’s electoral process, but under Yakubu, Nigerians now know that anybody can lose an election.
“It is also evident that most of the elections conducted by the commission were validated by the courts, except those that had issues of nominations arising from their political parties.
“How else does Amaechi rate performance, except the fact that his preferred presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar did not win,” Okwu queried.
He went further to say that Yakubu had outperformed his predecessors in office since the return of the country’s democracy in 1999, stressing that “he deserves accolades and encouragement from Nigerians of goodwill; what the commission needs is strengthened legislation to perfect the strategies put on ground already.”
On the issues of the 2027 elections, Okwu also lambasted Amaechi for putting himself forward to get the ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
He described the former Rivers governor as a hypocrite and urged the promoters of the opposition coalition to be mindful of him.
“This is the same man who said he worked against Jonathan because of zoning, yet he wants to position himself to get the presidential ticket of the ADC, whereas he is from the same South-South as Jonathan.
“If he is an apostle of equity and zoning as he claimed, why is he not supporting an Igbo man to emerge as the presidential candidate of the ADC, considering that down South, only the South-East has not occupied the seat since 1999.
“How do you trust a man who tells you he is an Igbo man today, and then tomorrow, he will turn around to say it was all politics?
“It is glaring that we are dealing with a desperado, whose only anger is that President Tinubu defeated him during the APC presidential primary.
“He is not in the coalition to protect the interest of the masses except that of his inordinate ambition and quest for power.
“Nigerians must say No to Amaechi and his likes; we have had enough deceit; Nigerians are wiser now. Amaechi should retire to his community,” Okwu declared.
