“Okowa Owes Ohanaeze Ndigbo N200m” – Ohanaeze Youth Urges Governor To Settle Debt Before Claiming Igbo PDP VP Position

The vice presidential candidate of the main opposition party and governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has been urged by the apex sociocultural youth organisation of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the Ohanaeze Youth Council OYC, to make good on his legal obligation to pay the contribution required of governors of Igbo descent.

The Council recalled that the Anioma are a core Igbo indigenous people and that they produced the late Gen. Joseph Achuzie (Rtd), a former Ohanaeze Ndigbo president-general.

Speaking to reporters in Asaba on October 19, 2022, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, the national president of the Ohanaeze Youth Council OYC, expressed outrage over Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa’s blatant refusal to pay his monthly statutory levy, which is expected of every Governor from States of Igbo extraction.

Igboayaka claimed that Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa owed the Igbo nation’s (Apex Igbo Socio-Cultural Organisation Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide) an aggregate debt of more than 200 million naira (200m).

Speaking, Igboayaka stated: “It may be recalled that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has boasted about being Igbo, but he has fallen short of expectations in his work with the top Igbo Socio-Cultural Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

“It’s very unfortunate that Gov Ifeanyi Okowa who boasted of being Igbo, has failed to take active responsibility in Ohanaeze Ndigbo affairs for the past seven years.

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Even as a governor, which made him a statutory member of “Ime Obi” one of the highest decision making organs of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa has failed to attend Ohanaeze Ndigbo meetings.

This, according to Comrade Igboayaka, has stoked Ndigbo’s suspicions regarding his recent public statement in which he reiterated his Igbo ancestry.

Igboayaka continued, “Gov Ifeanyi Okowa’s vice presidential position has made Ndigbo doubt and neglect him because of his unsupportive attitude toward Ohanaeze Ndigbo even as a Governor, as it were.

The Council therefore reiterated that Ohanaeze Ndigbo had found Okowa’s role as Governor of Delta State to be unproductive over the years, which is why they are utterly skeptical about what would happen to them if they threw their support behind him in the current Vice Presidential position.

“Right now, Ohanaeze Ndigbo as a body is skeptical about what their fate would turn out to be if they go ahead to support him to be Vice President of Nigeria. They are worried that his position would ever be beneficial to Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Ndigbo at large.”

Comrade. Igboayaka therefore urged Gov. Okowa to demonstrate some moral character and fiscal responsibility by making good on the outstanding N200 million debt he has owed Ohanaeze Ndigbo since taking office.

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“It’s sad that a lot of projects is going on at Ohanaeze Ndigbo secretariat Enugu under Prof. Amb. George Obiozor administration, but Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa, the PDP Vice Presidential candidate, has not donated a bag of cement or a chair to support the apex Igbo Socio-cultural organisation,” he bemoaned.