Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo state, has asked Igbo leaders to toe the path of wisdom before adopting a candidate for the 2019 presidential election.

In a statement on Thursday, the governor advised the leaders to put aside the bad politics they played in the past which has kept the zone in political wilderness.

Okorocha said this 24 hours after Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), met with Ben Nwabueze, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), with some south-east leaders in Enugu.
The leaders were said to have adopted Atiku, while Nwabueze said he would not die until the PDP candidate becomes president.

In a statement issued by Sam Onwemeodo, his chief press secretary, Okorocha advised the stakeholders to tread with caution.

“On the adoption of a presidential candidate by Igbo leaders and their playing partisan politics, my advice is that Igbo leaders should toe the path of wisdom and should not come again adopting a candidate,” the statement read.

“Mine is an advice that the Igbos should be careful not to play the same type of very bad politics we played in the past which most of the times, kept us in political wilderness. As a people, we must be wise now and never foreclose the possibility of any presidential candidate becoming the president tomorrow.”

The All Progressives Congress (APC) had said the endorsement of Atiku by some south-east leaders is an affront to Igbo people who were victims of PDP’s “misrule”.