The Ijaw National Congress has denied endorsing Peter Obi of Labour Party has a prefered candidate for the 2023 presidential election.
The apex Ijaw body made the denial following a report that it had endorsed the former Anambra governor, who paid the leadership of the body a consultative visit in Yenagoa, on Thursday.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Engr. Ezonebi Oyakemeagbegha, the INC denied endorsing any presidential candidate and described the report on Obi as false and misleading.
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The statement read;
“The attention of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) has been drawn to a media report suggesting that our organization has endorsed Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party as its preferred Presidential candidate for the February 25 election.
To put the records straight, we hereby state as follows:
1) That report on some media outfits ( electronic and print ) concerning our interactive session With Mr. Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party is misleading, false, malicious, and a figment of the imagination of those behind them.
2) That the full text of the INC President’s address and footage at the interactive session with Mr Peter Obi are in the public domain and at no time was endorsement mentioned.
3) That our interactive engagement with the Presidential candidates is ongoing and so far three of the candidates: Prince Adewale Adebanjo of the SDP; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP; and Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party have taken their turns.
4) That the INC is willing to interface with any of the remaining 15 Presidential candidates, for the prime purpose of addressing and eliciting genuine commitment to the Ijaw Agenda of Restructuring, Devolution of Power, Resource Control, and other minimum conditions that could influence our support for the Nigerian Project.
5) That our decision on a preferred candidate could only be made public after due diligence.
6) That the public should discountenance the report in its entirety as it did not reflect the true position of INC.
