Ohanaeze President-General hopeful, Obiozor, slumps in meeting

Ohanaeze President-General hopeful, Obiozor, slumps in meeting
Published December 21, 2020
Ohanaeze Ndigbo President-General, Nnia Nwodo
Raphael Ede, Enugu
There was palpable tension on Sunday at the emergency Ime -Obi meeting of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo following the sudden collapse of the leading contestant for the group ’s president -general, Prof . George Obiozor .
The meeting held was called to resolve differences arising from the 40 -man list of electoral committee members for the 2021 election of Ohanaeze Ndigbo submitted to Ime -Obi Ohanaeze by the President -General, Chief Nnia Nwodo , on December 6 .
Obiozor , 78 , had earlier been endorsed by Imo State stakeholders as their consensus candidate .
During the meeting, he was said to have started shivering where he was seated and someone close to him called for help .
While he was being helped out of the hall , he slumped and started talking incoherently .
Efforts to resuscitate him failed as he was moved into his car and accompanied by an ambulance belonging to the Enugu State Government and driven out of the meeting venue .
While being rushed to the car, Obiozor was heard screaming intermittently .
One of the members of the Ime -Obi meeting , who sat close to him at the meeting , told journalists , “ He ( Obiozor ) suddenly started behaving funny and talking to himself . I noticed that he was not feeling well and called for help . ”
Briefing journalists after the meeting , Nwodo said that Ime – Obi unanimously endorsed the appointment of Chief Gary Enwo- Igariwey from Ebonyi State as the Chairman of the Electoral Committee for the January 11 , 2021 poll .
Nwodo had on December 6 , 2020 nominated Chief Ben Obi from Anambra state as chairman of the 40 -man electoral committee, but the Minister of Labour and Employment , Dr Chris Ngige, kicked against his nomination , pointing out that Obi was a well – known chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Nwodo , who addressed reporters through his Special Adviser on Media , Chief Emeka Attamah, described the meeting as the most peaceful Ime -Obi Ohanaeze has had since its inception.
He said, “ As you know, some people raised objections to some of the names of the electoral committee members for the January 11 Ohanaeze election , especically the Chairman of the committee , Chief Ben Obi .
“ But that was resolved when Obi stood up during the meeting and announced his decision to step down .
“ Based on the constitution of Ohanaeze that empowers the president -general to appoint the electoral committee , Chief Nwodo nominated his predecessor , Chief Enwo-Igariwey, as his replacement and he was unanimously accepted to chair the 40 – man electoral committee .
“ Nwodo also nominated Bishop Goddy Okafor as the deputy chairman of the electoral committee and he was unanimously accepted. ”
Attamah disclosed that Obi embraced Ngige during the meeting , adding that Ime -Obi also approved that the January election should be held in Imo State .