The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has denied sending any legal team to meet with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
The Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations to the AGF, Jibrilu Gwandu, had said in a statement on Monday that the Ohanaeze legal team met with Malami and indicated willingness to monitor the proceedings in the case of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
However, the President-General, Ohanaeze, Prof George Obiozor, who spoke to one of our correspondents on telephone, stated that the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide led by him did not send anyone to the Federal Government, adding that another organisation using the name of Ohanaeze might have met the AGF.
He retorted when asked if the Ohanaeze legal team met with the AGF, “Ohanaeze legal team? I don’t know about that one. I don’t know about that Ohanaeze legal team; we haven’t sent a legal team.
“I don’t know about that Ohanaeze. Maybe it is another Ohanaeze wherever, but the Ohanaeze worldwide, the one led by me, has not sent any legal team yet to him (Malami). We constituted our team just on Saturday led by the Ohanaeze national legal adviser.”
The statement by Gwandu had said the position of Ohanaeze Ndigbo on the issue of Kanu demonstrated its recognition of the South-East region belonging to Nigeria and succumbing to the rule of law.
The statement read in part, “The group showed a mature departure from the mindset of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra when Ohanaeze said: ‘We do not support the use of any form of violence’, while channelling concerns and presenting demands.
“By urging the youth to be law-abiding and sheath their sword as well as asking them to try to obtain voter cards to enable them to contribute to national development, the position of Ohanaeze becomes glaringly constitutional and commendable.”
Malami was quoted as stating, “The current administration respects the rule of law and does not advocate the breach of law. Hence, with or without the so-called monitoring group, justice will be adequately served to Nnamdi Kanu in compliance with the enshrined provisions of the law.”
He also expressed hope that the group would be open-minded and guided by the rule of law by conveying the court’s judgment to its people in their local dialects.
