The Igbo Peoples Alliance For Development has debunked the news which filtered out over the weekend claiming that a former Nigerian ambassador to the United States, Israel and Cyprus, Prof George Obiozor collapsed at Enugu on Sunday.
Addressing a press conference in Owerri, Imo State, on Tuesday, the group’s national president, Ambrose Obioha, said that Obiozor who is the consensus candidate for the January 2021 presidential election of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is ” hale and hearty.”
Obioha said that the ex-ambassador was in perfect health condition before, during, and after the meeting of Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Sunday in Enugu.
He alleged that the rumour of the academic’s health crisis was connected to the Ohanaeze Ndigbo presidential election which comes up in January.
Obioha, however, said that Obiozor would not “go to the gutters with a person or group because of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership election, but would instead pursue his mandate standing firm on his cardinal principals of forthrightness, integrity, peace and brotherliness.”
The group said that the Igbo people need a person like Obiozor who move the region forward.
He said, “The ill-intention of those spreading the fake news of the purported hospitalisation of Prof Obiozor was made rather too obvious by the fact that while Prof Obiozor was still at the venue of the Ime Obi, he was inundated with calls from people who were far from the venue but had also heard the fake news suggesting he suddenly took ill and had to be hospitalized.
“Prof Obiozor is already in the race to salvage Igbo land and there is no going back. He is the front runner in the race with the blessings of Igbo people across board. As such, he can neither be intimidated nor cowed by the actions of the fifth columnists.
“We wish to stress that the Igbo nation is presently at a crossroad and needs competent leadership to chart the course out of these trying times.”
