http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/aug/14/national-08-14-2010-015.htm
Zoning: Igbo group disowns leaders on pact with North
From CHIDI NNADI, Enugu
Saturday, August 14, 2010



An Igbo group, Nd’Igbo Lagos, has said that the Igbo have not entered into any agreement with the North on the vexed issue of zoning of the presidency. The group was reacting to media reports on Wednesday which claimed that South East leaders and the North had met to endorse zoning, saying that it was a misplaced statement.

“The so-called South East leaders are by no means speaking for Ndigbo or any section of the South East. We view the report with skepticism and distance ourselves from any such agreement. At no time and at no place has Nd’Igbo or the South East people gathered to agree on selves and their various political ambitions, but not for or on behalf of Nd’Igbo and the South East.

“We are not ignorant of the various political plots and sub-plots going on now on the eve of the upcoming elections. Nd’Igbo are very much aware of what our interests are and what manner of approach to take towards its realization. But to initiate, engage and enter into any agreement with the North or any other section of the country without due consultation across board is unacceptable.

“We also for the avoidance of any doubt and for the records state that, Ohanaeze Nd’Igbo, is the mouthpiece of Nd’Igbo and at no time have they mandated any group, groups or persons to enter into any political negotiations on our behalf. Immediate political gains and expediency have long ceased to be the motivating and driving force behind Igbo political thinking and we do not intend to go back on that,” the group said.
They noted that mutual political survival, infrastructural development, a federal Nigeria devoid of the various trappings of mismanagement, corruption, tribalism and ethnicity, is the fulcrum of the Igbo socio-political thinking and cannot be served any better by such corner-cutting politicking as exhibited by the so-called “South East” political leaders.
“We call on Nd’Igbo and other Nigerians to ignore these so-called alliances, which are nothing but distractions and which serve no interest both for our Igbo corporate interest and the general well-being of the nation. Our fate and future lie in our hands and not with the North as many self-serving politicians are making us to believe.”

The Igbo governors may not contest, but should not deny any Igbo person the right to vote and be voted for.