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Magnus Eze, Enugu
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing has vowed to resist the call by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Igbo, especially in the South East, to boycott this year’s election and, instead, participate in its referendum.
The body described the stance of IPOB as an evil wind, which would not only reduce the number of votes cast in the region, but has the tendency of escalating security situation in the area.
National Leader of Ohanaeze Youth Wing, Dr. Arthur Obiora, told Daily Sun, in Enugu, yesterday, that the organisation would do anything possible to ensure massive participation of Ndigbo in the elections.
Obiora said only restructuring would lead to an egalitarian nation, where equity and justice reign. He lauded the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, for making restructuring one of his campaign planks. He also said there was no need for the military to occupy the South East in the name of fishing out pro-Biafra campaigners in this election period, stressing that such action could scare away the electorate.
“The truth is that referendum is not solution to the problems bedevilling us as a race in Nigeria; rather, it would compound our woes as marginalised people in the Nigerian system. We do not want a repeat of the visionless order for the boycott of the 2006 national headcount by the then leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, which the Igbo would ever live to regret.
“Arising from the above, we, hereby, categorically align with the position of the Chief Nnia Nwodo-led executive of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, regarding the endorsement of Atiku Abubakar/Peter Obi presidential ticket of the PDP.
“That, we would resist any attempt by any person(s) or group to frustrate the massive participation of our people in the coming elections. This election is critical to the future of Ndigbo as a people, hence, we urge our youths, irrespective of party affiliations, to take active part and also support the Atiku/Obi ticket as already adopted by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and duly ratified by the Imeobi meeting of January 24, 2019.”
By this, we enjoin Ohanaeze youth leaders at local government, state and national levels to mobilise our youths towards the realisation of this all-important agenda.
