By Praise Necherem & O’star Eze

The leadership of the In­digenous people of Biafra (IPOB) says its resolution to boycott the forthcoming Anambra governorship elec­tion slated for November 18, 2017 remains sacrosanct.

In the statement signed by the group’s media and pub­licity secretary, Emma pow­erful, IPOB said the Anambra election boycott would be a sure way of proving to the whole world that Biafrans are determined to be liberated.

“We IPOB maintain that there will be no more elec­tions in Biafraland starting with Anambra State this year”, it said stressing that it has never shifted ground on its stands on the poll.

Meanwhile, some uniden­tified youths allegedly op­erating under the banner of the Indigenous People of Bi­afra (IPOB) have disrupted a governorship campaign pro­gramme of the Progressing People Alliance (PPA) candi­date, Godwin Chukwunaenye Ezeemo.

Ezeemo campaign team were at the God’s Own Pen­tecostal, Church Odoekpe, in Ogbaru Local Government of Anambra State to interact with party faithfuls on Satur­day when young men, bran­dishing Biafran flags and sing­ing Biafran songs besieged the venue, ordering the candi­date and his team to leave.

They blamed their grievanc­es on the prolonged neglect of the area by successive gov­ernments in Anambra state. They specifically fingered the Willie Obiano administration for failing to fulfill his promis­es to them.

“We have been lied to and used for so long by these pol­iticians and we do not need them again. Our youths are jobless, our roads are bad. We want our freedom and we do not want all these politicians here anymore,” they argued.

Mr. Ezeemo who managed to calm the protesters, how­ever informed them that he is a Biafran in practice given that he brought down all his investments to his homeland in Anambra. He further ex­plained that addressing the challenges of poverty and de­velopment was the reasons he was vying for governor­ship of Anambra.

His words: “I can under­stand the agitation of these youths. We have been lied to for so long by these poli­ticians but I have left Britain to come back home so I can make things right. Just give me a chance, I will not let you down.”.

The incident happened barely 24 hours after a de­fiant kanu stormed Onitsha and addressed thousands of supporters, albeit encourag­ing residents to boycott the Anambra poll. “There will be no election in Anambra and Biafraland forever and ever. This land belongs to Biafra. Our enemies will fail. We are without fear before our en­emies. I will be alive to see Biafra or death fighting for it. You all must see Biafra”, Kanu told flag-waving and cheering crowd that thronged Omogba Phase II Onitsha on July 8.

However, in a fresh state­ment on Sunday, IPOB insists that its members would not participate in any kind of poll that is not geared towards self-determination of the Bi­afraland. “Biafrans cannot be reasonably expected to agree to any electoral process that will only perpetuate their cur­rent slave status and misery in this colonial contraption named Nigeria. While we may accept being routinely killed and dispossessed out­side our land, such intimida­tion cannot be allowed to go unchecked in Biafraland.

Meanwhile, Dr. Dozie Iked­ife, a former President Gen­eral of Ohaneze Ndigbo and founding figure of IPOB, had voiced his objection to the IPOB’s planned boycott of the crucial governorship poll. Ikedife, a member of the Su­preme Council of Elders of the Indigenous People of Bi­afra told Orient Daily in an exclusive interview from his base in Nnewi last week that denying Biafra agitators the opportunity to exercise their civic rights in the election would be unwise and coun­terproductive.

According to the foremost medical scientist and anthro­pologist, the election boycott could provide the leeway for an unpopular candidate to emerge victorious with un­foreseen consequences on the people of the state.

He argued that “when you boycott this and that election, you are showing disobedient to the law of the land. I don’t buy the idea that you should disobey the law of the land.

He went further: “Due to the boycott of last census, the people of the South East geopolitical zone were un­der-counted. And we are still enduring the consequence of that census boycott and the resultant under-counting in the region.

The Kanu led IPOB, is not only pushing for boycott of the poll, but warned Igbo leaders opposed to the se­cession bid of IPOB to retrace their steps before it’s too late.

“It is unfortunate that these persons and certain others have predictably fallen for the usual crumbs falling off the master’s table in Aso Rock in exchange for their shameful public rejection of the IPOB led Biafra restoration project. A few selfish individuals mo­tivated by greed, envy and jealousy, whose whole life has been characterised by merchandising in misery and suffering cannot trade with our future anymore”, it said.

The group insists that it can no longer a selection (elec­tion) midwifed by federal government under the control of northern political forces. “This present generation of Biafrans can promise them that days are gone by when leaders emerge in Biafraland through a process of selec­tion determined by Hausa Fulani oligarchy in Sokoto and Kaduna. The era of Soko­to Caliphate and Aso Rock dictating political outcomes in Biafraland is over and will be confirmed on the 18th of Nov. 2017.

Orientdailynews