Press Release

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, has commended Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State for providing an enabling environment for the successful hosting of the 2023 Igbo Day Celebration in Port Harcourt. The event, which took place on the 28th and 29th of September 2023, was a significant gathering for the Igbo Nation.

Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, expressed his appreciation during a meeting with a delegation from the Rivers women known as Umuokpu and Umuada Nwanyi Igbo Federation in Abakiliki. The visit was a fact-finding mission to assess the potential of Rivers State to produce the next President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in 2025.

Isiguzoro assured the visitors that the Constitution of Ohanaeze Ndigbo allows for the rotation of the office of the President General in alphabetical order. After Imo State’s tenure ends on January 10th, 2025, a new president-general from Rivers State will lead the Igbo community from January 11th, 2025. He emphasized that nothing would change the emergence of a President General from Rivers State on the set date and warned against any illegitimate extension of the current President General’s tenure.

Isiguzoro urged the Igbo women in Rivers State, known as UmuOkpu Igbo Women, to inform their qualified presidential aspirants to begin consultative meetings across the seven Igbo-speaking states. While Ohanaeze Ndigbo has not yet lifted the embargo on open campaigning for the 2025 elections, interested individuals are encouraged to engage in consultations with critical stakeholders across Abia, Anambra, Anioma in Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers State.

Barr Roseline Amadi, the leader of UmuOkpu and Umuada Nwanyi Igbo Forum in Rivers State, expressed gratitude to Ohanaeze Ndigbo for their support and recognition of Rivers State through the successful hosting of the Igbo Day Celebration in Port Harcourt. She highlighted that Rivers State has about eight candidates suitable for the office of President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, including former governors, academicians, successful oil moguls, and retired diplomats. Amadi called on the Igbo community to support Rivers State in the upcoming Ohanaeze Ndigbo elections.

In conclusion, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has commended Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State for his role in facilitating the successful hosting of the 2023 Igbo Day Celebration in Port Harcourt. The organization has also affirmed that a new president-general from Rivers State will assume office on January 11, 2025, according to the rotational policy outlined in the Constitution of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The Igbo community is encouraged to support Rivers State in the upcoming Ohanaeze Ndigbo elections, as the state has several qualified candidates for the position of President General.