Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has alleged that the late called-off of the election boycott declared by its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, forced the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Federal government to postpone the scheduled election.
Kanu, had on Thursday night called-off the boycott order he declared, calling on IPOB member and people of South East and parts of South-South zones to go out to cast their votes.
A statement by the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Emma Powerful, said that the late call-off of the election boycott forced INEC to postpone the election for one week because according to him, the move destabilised the planned rigging of the election by the ruling party.
He alleged that the postponement of the election was to give the electoral umpire time to strategise since the planned use of IPOB boycott to rig the election failed through the sudden suspension of the boycott.
Powerful said: “Events surrounding the postponement of the Nigerian presidential election previously scheduled for February 16, 2019, are a confirmation that IPOB’s decision to lift the boycott was a masterstroke that took the cabal by surprise.
“The move by IPOB apex leadership to call off the boycott made it virtually impossible for the APC administration to proceed to rig the elections on the account that IPOB would boycott the polls. It is now clear for the world to see that some nefarious elements within the corridors of power in Aso Rock wanted so desperately use IPOB to boycott these elections in order to justify their already perfected script that our boycott would have made it possible for them to emerge victorious.
“By calling off the boycott, Buhari and his cabal lost the initiative and were headed straight for defeat. Our leader, Kanu, is light years ahead of the intrigues and machinations that characterise politics in Nigeria. Had the leadership of our great movement, IPOB, not called off the boycott, the sham elections would have proceeded as rigged, with Buhari announced as the winner on account that IPOB boycotted the exercise.
“Anybody who is still in doubt about the potency of IPOB will undoubtedly have a rethink after this. Quite obviously, the IPOB boycott call off took the Nigerian corrupt establishment unawares. A simple statement from our leader has exposed voting in Nigeria as a huge joke. Let the riggers go back and plan how to rig well. What a country, what a contraption!
“In effect, our leader calling off the boycott was a huge shock they were unable to manage. Lt. Gen. Tukur Burarai’s threat and orchestrated army violence against peaceful IPOB in the run up to February 16 were all designed to maximise the impact of the intended boycott because that was the outcome they desired.
“This plan fell apart as soon as soon as IPOB called off the boycott. Therefore, they had no choice than to postpone the elections. That Nigeria is not voting today is due to what some people have called the IPOB effect.
“IPOB’s late announcement of the lifting of the boycott was what led to this last minute postponement by INEC, because they had ample time throughout the week to postpone the elections but failed to do so. The fear of IPOB is the beginning of wisdom, only fools pretend otherwise,” Powerful stated.