Igbo lawyers under the aegis of the Igbo Lawyers Association (ILA) have knocked the Federal Government over its claim that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, had committed a treasonable offence.
According to the group of legal practitioners led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) identified as Chief Chuks Muoma, the group is set to hold an urgent meeting over the matter.
Muoma, as gathered from The Sun, said the hypocrisy against the Igbo of South-East in Nigeria was so glaring for the world to see, while noting that until Ndigbo, who led the independence struggles, were recognised and given their rightful positions in Nigeria, the country will not know peace.
OsunDaily News recalls that earlier in the week, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed had accused Obi and his running mate, Datti Ahmed of plotting a violent change of government in Nigeria by not accepting the outcome of the February 25 presidential poll.
However, reacting to the allegation, the leader of the Igbo lawyers said the group was not happy about the fact Obi was being harassed, hounded and threatened to abandon the cause he had taken.
The Labour Party flag bearer was therefore urged not to abandon the case at the elections tribunal or go into exile.
Muoma said “Why are they harassing him, because they cheated him out of his victory? Now, they are claiming he has committed treason offences. You cannot beat a child and deny him his tears, deny him crying.
“Independence struggles for the country were spearheaded by the Igbo man; Nnamdi Azikiwe, Mbonu Ojike, Ozuomba Mbadiwe. Nigeria has to accept and give Igbo their rightful positions for it to move forward. As long as Nigeria hates Igbo, the country will remain as it is.”
While commenting on if Obi should go on self-exile as suggested by some quarters, he queried that “Why would Obi go on exile? For what? If they said he committed treason, let them go ahead but the fact remains that, they haven’t got any evidence against him. There is no evidence.
“The law is a matter of evidence and evidence is a matter of fact. All that they are doing is because Obi is an Igbo man. That’s exactly what the problem is.”
