Leader of the Obidient Movement in South East, Dr Ezeh Emmanuel Ezeh, has condemned the verbal attacks hauled against a former Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, for urging the people of South East to participate in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
Shortly after El’Rufai’s recent visit to Owerri, Imo state, where he addressed participants at the 2025 Odenigbo lecture in Maria Asumpta Catholic Church, some individuals believed to be sponsored by some desperate politicians began to described him as Igbo hater.
But the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri through the Archdiocesan Chancellor, Rev Father Patrick Mbarah came out boldly to condemn what it described as hired, placard-carrying thugs that gathered at the rear entrance to the Maria Assumpta Cathedral to chant slogans against both El-Rufai and the former Presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Dr Ezeh expressed dismay at the sham protest, describing it as the handiwork of desperate individuals within the ongoing coalition talks in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) who feel embittered by El-Rufai’s declaration that a Southerner should be supported with the party’s presidential ticket to serve out the remaining four years.
The Obidient leader noted that although the Nigerian constitution guaranteed freedom of expression and choice to citizens, South East politicians in the coalition who were working for a northern presidential aspirant should be guided by the dictates of equity, fairness and inclusivity.
While maintaining that the only way Nigerians would take the coalition serious is by zoning the presidential slot to the South.
Ezeh, who is also a prominent entrepreneur, declared that the time for grabbing power for power sake is gone.
He maintained that El-Rufai’s message to Nigerians aligns with the belief of the Obidient Movement that a new Nigeria is Possible, adding that the former Kaduna State governor should be appreciated for his forthrightness and not based on his past membership of All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to Ezeh, Mallam El-Rufai has come to acknowledge that Nigeria belongs to every citizen and believes that in the journey to a new Nigeria, the salient facts to know includes citizen participation in election and insistence on the rule of law.
“I wish to say that we have been mobilising our members to go out there and register to vote, because apathy and lethargy encourage vote thieves to steal the people’s mandate. To me, all these are the centre of el-Rufai’s messaging, whether in Sokoto, Kaduna or Owerri.“