Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has waded into the lingering leadership tussle that had bedeviled the Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
The governor yesterday held a closed-door meeting with the Gary Enwo-Igariwey-led faction at the Government House in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
The meeting, which lasted for hours, was attended by the group’s Secretary-General, Dr Joe Nwaogu and other leaders.
Addressing reporters after the parley, Igariwey said: “We are here to find solutions to the leadership crisis rocking the group. We have come here in search of peace because when there is peace in Ohanaeze, there will be peace in Igboland. Governor Okorocha is our friend and he has mediated and we are hopeful that peace has returned.”
The governor, however, declined to speak on the outcome of the meeting.
But The Nation gathered that he berated the group’s leadership for allowing the crisis to escalate and become an embarrassment to Ndigbo. He was quoted to have urged the Igariwey faction to close ranks with other members and harmonise the leadership positions in the interest of peace.