The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IPOB

  • IPoB, Wike Set to Clash

    Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike is set for a major falling out with the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB following media reports that linked the governor with the recently designated terror group.

    Mr. Wike and IPoB have been accused of being behind the mass panic caused by hoaxes about soldiers coercing school children to receive killer vaccines that spread the Monkey Pox virus. The Federal Government and experts have debunked reports of the story as false.
    A reliable source in IPoB told our correspondent that the group, which is agitating for the restoration of the erstwhile Biafra Republic, has become suspicious of Wike’s continued commitment to their cause. The source, who did not want to be identified because IPoB has been outlawed, accused the Rivers State Governor of exploiting his group for his selfish ends while threating members like mentally incapacitated people. According to him, the monthly subvention of 50million naira has been stopped over what the Governor allegedly described as lack of accountability in the running of IPOB affairs.
    He said, “Some of us think we can no longer trust this man. When Operation Python Dance II started clamping down on our members, we had thought that we can carry out reprisals in Rivers state since Governor Wike as a strategic partner should give us cover as someone in the opposition with a common enemy.

    “The man has stopped dropping the agreed sum and for over 2 months no one has heard from him which is a further proof that he is practically playing games with the movement after achieving his aim.
    “We were however jolted when Wike started saying things like IPoB are not welcome in Rivers or IPoB should not come to Rivers state, IPoB should stay away. Much as some of us initially thought that his attitude was to cover the relationship he has with us at that time, we have now become suspicious since the October 17 court date when the Federal Government failed to produce our Supreme Leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in court.
    “The thing is that most of us now think that Wike knowingly allowed the APC (All Progressives Congress) to know that he was connected to the Monkey Pox vaccine message that we were sending around. It was a surprise when APC linked Wike to it and later some CSOs even provided details that should only be known to those that planned the strategy. If we did not reveal the secret, which we know we did not, then it could only have been the Governor.
    “He has betrayed us when they decided to say IPoB was a terrorist organization, he betrayed us when our leader’s house was invaded by soldiers, he betrayed us when our leader was not provided in court and he has again let us down by exposing the way we frustrated the criminal medical outreach of the Nigerian Army. It will not only be stupid to continue trusting Governor Wike but it is also dangerous since he may one day decamp to the APC and completely give away our strategic secrets.
    “We are now having to go back to the drawing board because we cannot give up on our quest for Biafra just because of a sellout, which is why it was agreed that there should be no official IPoB statement on Governor Wike’s betrayal. It is not even as we are worried about him because when you have a cause that the comments of someone like former President (Goodluck) Jonathan tallies with then you don’t allow little setbacks to hold you,” the source explained.
    Mr. Wike’s spokespersons have not commented on the IPoB allegations that he betrayed them as they have not answered calls to their mobile numbers while text messages sent to them were not replied.
    Wike had last month dismissed claims that the opposition, including himself, were sponsoring IPoB. He said “Who are those being affected by the activities of IPOB? Are they not those in the opposition states? In the hay days of Boko Haram, does the Inspector of General of Police (IGP) mean it was the opposition then that was sponsoring Boko Haram just to distract the government then?

  • Relief as Abia lifts curfew

    Relief as Abia lifts curfew

    Residents of Aba, the commercial nerve of Abia State and its environs have hissed sigh of relief following the decision of the state governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu to lift the curfew imposed on Aba at the heat of the crisis that erupted between members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and personnel of the Nigerian Army.

    Ikpeazu had on September 12 imposed 6pm to 6am indefinite curfew on Aba which later changed to 10pm to 6am as a security measure to restrict movement of people while government and other security agencies in the state were making frantic efforts to contain the security threats in Aba after yet-to-be identified persons set the Ariaria Police Station ablaze using petrol bomb.

    Residents who spoke to our reporter on Thursday stated that they were happy that the governor has decided to lift the curfew.

    They expressed hope that night life which has been grounded in the past one month would gradually come alive as it was the case in the past.

    A fast food vendor who identified himself as Kelechi who sells food at night near Aba Main Park lamented the effect of the curfew on his business, stating “business has been at its lowest ebb in the last one month due to the government’s restriction on movement of people and vehicles in and out of Aba.

    “With this ban on movement of vehicles and persons being lifted and trading hours now elongated, we expect that our night business will improve. We expect that social life will also improve”.

    A shoe maker at Ariaria International market who corroborated Kelechi’s position said that they (shoe makers) would be at the advantage of the end of the curfew as they expect to have more customers from different parts of Africa coming to buy from them especially as they approach November when many people come to buy what they will sell or use for Christmas.

    A release issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Mr. Enyinnaya Appolos said that the state government after reviewing the security situation in Aba and its environs decided to rest the curfew because of the improved security situation and peace which has since returned to Aba after the unrest.

    According to the release, the Governor thanked heads of security agencies in the state for rising to the challenge of nipping insecurity in the bud and also called on Aba residents and visitors to the commercial city to remain vigilant while they go about their lawful businesses without any fear of intimidation and harassment by any person.

    “The Governor wishes to also express his appreciation to Aba residents, visitors and security agents for ensuring compliance with the curfew which was imposed to ensure the preservation of lives and properties.

    Governor Ikpeazu wishes to appeal to residents and visitors to remain vigilant to ensure that the prevailing peace and tranquility in the commercial city is not threatened or breached.”

  • Army finally admits going to Kanu’s house – IPOB

    Army finally admits going to Kanu’s house – IPOB

    The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has drawn the attention of Nigerians and the entire world to the statement made by the Nigerian Defence Minister General Mansur Dan Ali Rtd on a TV program called Question Time where he admitted sending soldiers to Nnamdi Kanu’s house in Umuahia.
    IPOB through a statement by its media and publicity secretary Emma Powerful said that Dan Ali during the program confirmed that Nigerian Army went in search of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in his home, having previously denied the involvement of the army in his abduction and disappearance since the invasion of the 14th September 2017.
    The statement reads: “The barefaced lies of the Nigerian Defence Minister General Mansur Dan Ali and that of the Federal government against our leader and organisation is beginning to unravel before the eyes of the world”.
    “By admitting publicly that soldiers were sent to Isiama Afaraukwu Ibeku to look for our leader without any order or warrant from a court of law confirms the contempt in which Nigerian government holds the rule of law and their judicial process.”
    “It is, therefore, incumbent upon civilized nations of the world and organizations alike to ask the APC led Nigerian government why they decided to send armed soldiers to invade Kanu’s residence.
    “Another question that must be asked is why would the government deny this obvious fact when there are incontrovertible proof based on available CCTV evidence that Nigerian soldiers undertook this outrageously murderous raid in a peaceful village that resulted in the disappearance and presumed death of our leader.
    “In the immortal words of Mansur Dan Ali the army ‘went to look for him but he wasn’t there’. This means that the army deliberately ‘went’ and stormed his home.
    “The words to note here is that the army went to look for Kanu, contrary to the lies emanating from the government that Operation Python Dance II was not targeted against IPOB.
    “Since by the admission of the Defence Minister our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was not there during the invasion of his residence, why deny that no invasion took place. This culture of denial, lies and subsequent admission makes it impossible for any neutral observer to believe any word coming out of the mouth of any official of the Buhari regime regarding the issue of IPOB.
    “It is also on record that the Nigerian government, Army and Defence Headquarters Abuja initially denied ever coming near or invading Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s house in Afaraukwu Ibeku Umuahia Abia State that resulted in the cold-blooded murder of  28 people including that of his two cousins.
    “With these lies upon lies coming from the government over this military invasion, it is therefore reasonably expected to conclude that the army is also lying about not having our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in their custody”.
    “Is the world waiting for Biafrans to pick up arms to demand the release of the body of their leader before they know IPOB is serious about ascertaining what the Nigerian government did with him”.
  • I don’t know where Nnamdi Kanu is – Governor

    I don’t know where Nnamdi Kanu is – Governor

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu said yesterday he is unaware of the whereabouts of leader of Indigenous People of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu.

    Kanu is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow for his case but he has not been seen since September 24 when military men entered his compound. In Afaraukwu, Umuahia.

    Members of his outlawed organization are claiming that the military too him away a claim that has been denied.

    Foremr Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, said he was reliably told that Kanu had eloped to London through Malaysia.

    Speaking to reporters in Abuja at the weekend, Ikpeazu said:  “I don’t think that is a fair question. I don’t have the capacity to determine where Kanu is. I have never visited him. I have never called him on phone and he has never taken me into confidence as to what he does, where he goes. So, those who are close to him would answer. I don’t have capacity to monitor him to know where he is, maybe journalists, through investigative journalism will know.

    He expressed concerns that some sections in the country cannot trust the Igbo in the South East to occupy certain strategic positions in the country.

    According to him, this feeling of distrust was unfounded, stressing that the Igbo have sufficiently demonstrated love and faith in the corporate existence of Nigeria more than any other ethnic group.

    Tracing the roots of the pervasive misgivings towards the South East to the civil war experiences, Ikpeazu said the Igbo have since put the nasty experiences behind them by registering their presence in every part of the country.

    “The post war experience is that everybody started receding and then we started moving everywhere. Then at the end of the day, our people are beginning to feel that we are not being trusted enough with certain strategic positions despite the fact that we have demonstrated in particular times that we love Nigeria more than anybody, we have faith in this country more than anybody,” the governor said.

    Ikpeazu said the agitations are mainly fueled by inequalities and feelings of unfair treatments.

    The governor said, “Fundamentally speaking, I think that if the questions we ask in this country today are whether there are inequalities, there are gaps, there are people who don’t feel that they have been fairly treated, either as an individual or as a family or as a geopolitical zone, the answer is yes.

    “There is agitation in the North East, there is a agitation in the South West and of course there is agitation in the South South. But I dare say that there is no other ethnic group in this country that has as much faith in Nigeria as a country, one united country than the people of the South East.

    “That is why they are in Sambisa. You can count how many big businesses belonging to the South Westerners that are in Aba. You can count how many big businesses belonging to the people from the North East, North West, North Central that you can find in Owerri. You cannot find a four storey building belonging to somebody from the North East anywhere in the South East.

    “But if you go to Kano, you don’t count three hotels before you count that of somebody from the South East. What it means is that we are the people that have demonstrated faith in a united Nigeria”.

    He traced the creation of IPOB to bottled up discontents among a section of the youths in the Southeast.

    Ikpeazu revealed that Igbo political and cultural leaders had to intervene at this point and that they engaged Kanu through the Ohanaeze and the South East governors.

    This, according to him, was for the purposes of exploring alternative approach to the agitation through intellectual presentations with the view to confronting the Federal Government with sound arguments.“

  • IPOB: ‘Kanu must be declared a terrorist’

    IPOB: ‘Kanu must be declared a terrorist’

    The Embassy of the United States of America (U.S.A) in Nigeria and its spokesman Russel Brooks have been dragged before a Federal High court sitting in Abuja over the comments and the stand of the US government on the Indigenous People of Biafra, when it was proscribed by the Nigerian Government last month.

    The Federal Government last month secured an ordered of the court proscribing IPOB as a terrorist organisation.

    But the U.S. Embassy, through its spokesman said IPOB is not a terrorist organisation under US laws.

    In the suit, dated and filed 11th October,2017, the plaintiff, Nze Charles Ugwu, through his lawyer, Simon Kanshio, Esq. UGWU claimed that Nigerian laws are not inferior to laws of other countries and that the statement by the US Spokesman was to undermine the sovereignty of the Nigerian state which is anchored on its constitution.

    He wants the court to compel the spokesman to withdraw his statement and declare the embassy as a promoter of terrorists’ activities in line with the Terrorism Act.

    But the plaintiff asked the court to determine the following terms

    “Whether by a true interpretation of sections 1, 4 and 5 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013 and the United Nations Convention on Terrorism the 1st Defendant’s statement endorsing the proscribed terrorist group named Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) does not amount to promoting terrorism in Nigeria?

    “Whether the United States of America represented in Nigeria through the second Defendant is no longer obligated to be bound by the United Nation Convention on Terrorism which the United States of America signed and ratified?

    “Whether the third Defendant as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation is not duty bound under the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013 to advise President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR to declare the 1st Defendant a persona non grata for supporting the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a proscribed terrorist group, thereby promoting terrorism in Nigeria?

    He also prayed the court for the following reliefs:

    “A declaration that by true interpretation of Sections 1, 4 and 5 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013 and the United Nations Convention on Terrorism the statement of the 1st Defendant from the office of the 2nd Defendant endorsing the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), an organization proscribed and labelled as a terrorist group by a Nigerian court presided over by Honourable Justice Abdul Adamu Kafarati on 19th September, 2017 is tantamount to supporting and inciting terrorism and violence in Nigeria.

    “A declaration that the 1st and 2nd Defendants representing the United States of America in Nigeria are under absolute obligation to obey Nigerian laws both statutory and judicial so far as they are within the territory of Nigeria irrespective of their personal opinions, perceptions or ideologies.

    “An order compelling the 1st and 2nd Defendants to withdraw their endorsement of the terrorist group named Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) within Seven (7) days of delivery of judgment in this case.

    “An order directing the first defendant to apologise to the Federal Government of Nigeria in 10 national dailies upon delivery of judgment in this case as his statement endorsing the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), despite the judgment of the court proscribing them as a terrorist group, is an affront to the Judiciary with the attendant effect of undermining the sovereignty of the Nigerian State.

    “The plaintiff, an indigene of Enugu State but resident in Kano State, in an affidavit in support of the suit said Kanu and his fellow members of IPOB went about his so called freedom agitation in a violent manner which has led to killing of hundreds of persons and destruction of properties worth billions of naira within the last two years, thus necessitating the arrest of Kanu and some of his men.

  • Minister urges international proscription of IPOB

    Minister urges international proscription of IPOB

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, wants the international community to join in designating the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorist organization.

    The minister, in an October 12, 2017 article in the United States newspaper “Washington Times” asked Nigeria’s international partners to support the Federal Government to designate IPOB a terrorist group.

    In the article entitled: ”Thwarting Terrorism in Nigeria,” Mohammed said IPOB’s actions qualify it as a terrorist organization in most jurisdictions.

    The federal government had on September 20, 2017, proscribed IPOB for violently agitating for the creation of an independent Biafra.

    “The terror lays bare their opportunism. They masquerade as a separatist movement, yet they endanger the very people they claim to represent. In reality, IPOB cares about IPOB and nothing more,” Mohammed said.

    He cited some of the statements used by  IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, such as: “If they fail to give us Biafra, Somalia will look like a paradise compared to what will happen to that ‘zoo’ ‘(Nigeria), “I don’t want peaceful actualization (of Biafra)”; “We need guns and we need bullets,” “If they don’t (give us Biafra), they will die.” .

    He argued that IPOB was similar in its actions to groups like  ETA in Spain, the Tamil Tigers was in Sri Lanka, and the PKK of Turkey all of which are proscribed by the U.S. State Department.

    He said the Buhari administration would not make the type of mistake made by the previous administration in allowing terrorists to capture land.

    “The government reiterates its appeal to its international partners to proscribe the organization, and in doing so, starve it of the funds which gives it sustenance. Nigeria has just defeated one preventable terrorist insurgency. This one must not be given the chance to get a foothold,” the minister emphasized.

  • Lethal weapons found in Kanu’s residence, says police chief

    Lethal weapons found in Kanu’s residence, says police chief

    Lethal weapons, including petrol bombs and one double-barrel gun, were recovered during Sunday’s raid of the Afaraukwu, Umuahia’s home of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu, the police claimed yesterday. IPOB is banned.

    Abia State Commissioner of Police Anthony Ogbizi said the items were recovered during a joint operation by security personnel.

    He said the petrol bombs were found in buckets.

    Also found, according to the police chief, were incriminating documents and letters concerning IPOB’s activities.

    He said the raid was carried out after an intelligence report regarding the continued activities of some members of the group.

    Ogbizi said: “We recovered many of Biafra’s insignia, staff of office and some of those items are being analysed.”

    The police boss said a suspected member of IPOB was being held.

    He said the team also discovered the telephone numbers of the group’s zonal coordinators, adding that all the communications between the leadership of the group and their collaborators would be thoroughly analysed.

    Ogbizi said a Biafran flag was also found hanging on a telecommunications mast in the area.

    According to him, the police will ask the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) to sanction any telecommunication company that allowed its mast to be used to hoist Biafran flags.

    He said the activities of IPOB in the Southeast were “stirring insurrection” and that security agencies would not fold their arms and watch the group foment violence.

    He said members of the group allegedly set ablaze a police station and a van  in Aba. A military patrol team attacked in Umuahia.

    Ogbizi said similar joint operations would be carried out intermittently in Kanu’s residence, anytime the police received intelligence reports that offensive weapons were brought to the place.

    He said that it was wrong to say that the military was taking over the duties of the police. The action, in his view, should be seen as a synergy between the two organisations to check security challenges.

    Ogbizi said that he would not hesitate to invite the army anytime the security situation in the state grew beyond the capacity of the police.

  • IPOB: Lethal weapons recovered from Kanu’s residence – Abia CP

    IPOB: Lethal weapons recovered from Kanu’s residence – Abia CP

    The Commissioner of Police in Abia, Mr Anthony Ogbizi, has said that lethal weapons, including petrol bombs and one double-barrel gun, were recovered during last Sunday’s raid on the residence of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

    Ogbizi said this on Thursday during an interaction with newsmen in Umuahia, adding that the items were recovered during a joint operation by security personnel in the state.

    He said that the petrol bombs were found in buckets and incriminating documents and letters, concerning IPOB’s activities and plans, were also recovered during the raid.

    He said that the raid was carried out based on an intelligence report, regarding the continued activities of some members of the group.

    Ogbizi said: “We recovered many of Biafra’s insignia, staff of office and some of those items are being analysed.”

    The police boss said that the operation also led to the arrest of one suspected member of IPOB.

    He said that the team also discovered the telephone numbers of the group’s zonal coordinators adding that all the communications between the leadership of the group and their collaborators would be thoroughly analysed.

    Ogbizi said that a Biafran flag was also found hanging on a telecommunications mast in the area.

    According to him, the police will ask the Nigeria Communications Commission to sanction any telecommunication company that allowed its mast to be used to hoist Biafran flags.

    He said that the activities of IPOB in the Southeast were “stirring insurrection” and that security agencies would not fold their arms and watch the group foment violence in the country.

    He said that members of the group allegedly set a police station and van ablaze in Aba, and also attacked a military patrol team in Umuahia.

    The police chief said that similar joint operations would be carried out intermittently in Kanu’s residence, anytime they received intelligence report that offensive weapons were brought to the place.

    He said that it was wrong to say that the military was taking over the duties of the police rather the action should be seen as a synergy between the two organisations to check security challenges.

    Ogbizi said that he would not hesitate to invite the army anytime the security situation in the state grew beyond the capacity of the police.

  • Monkey Pox Fake News: It’s a set up by IPOB against the Igbos, group alleges

    The Igbo for Nigeria Movement, INM, hasfingered the outlawed Independent People of Biafra [IPOB] to be responsible for the reports in some quarters that the Medical Outreach of Operation Python Dance II by the Nigerian Army is to plant monkey pox viruses in some children, describing it as another wicked attempt to set Igbo people against the Nigerian Army and other members of the Nigerian State.
    Reacting to the development, INM said the circulation of the rumour has portrayed Ndigbo as unthinking and shallow-minded people who cannot differentiate between reality and fiction.

    Addressing newsmen on Tuesday on the report, national president of INM, Mazi Ifeanyi Igwe observed that the fact on ground showed that the larger population of the South East are law abiding citizens with very cordial relationship with the military and all security agencies in Nigeria, including the Nigerian Army., adding that only those with criminal intent which the Army has thwarted are pained and out to use anything possible being it outright falsehood or blackmail to discredit the Army.
    He said, “We want to appeal to Ndigbo to decisively deal with the IPoB problem as it has been established that this criminal lies emanated from the terror group. Even as the damage is unfolding, Emma Powerful, the supposed spokesperson of IPoB continues to make inflammatory remarks, which were sadly reported by some mainstream media that ignored the fact that his group is a designated terror organization.

    “Unfortunately, IPoB is laying the groundworks to kill and destroy more Igbo people than any security agency could have ever done even if they had mounted a coordinated genocidal campaign against the southeast geo-political zone. This is a concern that is backed up by logic:
    “The IPoB lies has practically shut down schools. Emma Powerful asked teachers and pupils to stay at home until Operation Python Dance II leaves the southeast. This is going to disrupt education calendar in Igbo areas and this will leave our students at disadvantage since the other parts of the country would not pause their calendar for the southeast. Since Operation Python Dance is now poised to be an annual event are we going to be shutting down our school every year while other regions make progress?
    “Should Monkey Pox evolve into an epidemic that requires mass vaccination the lies and rumours that have spread like wildfire will prevent people from accepting life saving inoculations and treatment. This could cause casualty on a catastrophic scale. Let us be reminded that some parts of the country only a few weeks ago have to get vaccinated for cholera. The vaccines were shipped and conveyed by people in the South that included Igbo yet persons of northern ethnicities that received the vaccines did not wrongly accuse or fear the Igbo even at a time IPoB’s hate speech was at its vilest. The lies have set up our people to die needlessly should there be a national health emergency.
    “While IPoB’s lies may serve its immediate propaganda goal, it will create a new generation of vaccine deniers in the long term. We only need to take a cue from the impact of the anti-vaccines movements in the United States; they rely on the kind of rumours being spread in Nigeria now to push their agenda but the impact of the follies is being felt by way of resurfacing of diseases that the US had once eradicate while children are dying needlessly. Unless something is urgently done we are at risk of babies dying while those that survive would do so with the ravages of diseases like polio that vaccines could have easily dealt with. We will also bear the burden of staring afresh to roll back any eradicated disease that resurfaces as a result.
    “If our Hausa-Fulani brothers or any other ethnic group for that matter are resolute on decimating the Igbo as Emma Powerful is lying they will easily achieve that by tampering with our food sources since Nigeria’s food chain is heavily interconnected. The southeast does not produce all the meat, fish, grains and tubers it consumes and these are items that can be tampered with or bioengineered to deliver pestilence. It is therefore unkind to accuse others of what we are incapable of,” he added.
    Igwe called on state and federal governments to take immediate steps to stop further propagation of the lies by getting legal interpretation on IPoB’s continuing capacity to issue statements as an already-labeled terror group.

    He said, “The court order that designated IPoB as a terror group also outlawed its activities which leaves us at a loss of why a terrorist under the name of Emma Powerful continues to freely operate with the group’s name without being arrested. He should be immediately arrested.
    “Our hope is that the Nigerian Army would remain on standby with its Operation Python Dance II Medical Outreach to cater for those in need of medical attention once the lies making the rounds have been properly exposed.”

  • Buhari must sack non-performing South-East ministers – Anyanwu

    Buhari must sack non-performing South-East ministers – Anyanwu

    A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Nduka Anyanwu has said that bad governance by past and present governors of the South-East, as well as the inability of serving Federal Ministers to deliver on their promises, was largely responsible for the current agitation for secession by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    Anyanwu who is a serving ex-officio of the party told newsmen in Abuja that President Muhammadu Buhari must move immediately to sack all non performing Ministers from the region if he hopes to win the votes of the people of the south-East especially for their inability to bring under control, the agitation by the proscribed IPOB.

    The APC chieftain specifically demanded the immediate sack of the Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelama, adding that apart from being imposed on the Abia state chapter, the Minister has refused to visit the state party secretariat since his appointment, which is a clear indication of his lack of interest in the affairs of the party.

    He said: “Abians are very likeable people that will vote Buhari for 2019 if he comes out and which we are going to ask Buhari to come out. Nigerians need Buhari. Buhari is the best thing that has happened to this country but the issue is that few people that are working for him now in South-East are not really taking care of that zone, they are not doing much. 

    “Like in my state, my minister is not close to any of us, he is demarketing Buhari in the state. Is he the minister for only Abuja? I don’t think he has visited the state secretariat, I don’t think he has electoral value in his ward, what are we talking? I am asking President Buhari to reshuffle the cabinet and let them bring in somebody. 

    “When this IPOB agitation started, I was expecting the Minister of Trade and Investment, because he is the one representing us at the cabinet, to see how he would have parley with all these boys that are agitating but till today, that man has never spoken out anything, which is very bad. 

    “If you want to appoint a Minister, you must look for somebody who is ready to work for you, not somebody who would go and speak only grammar. Politics is not a child’s play, it is a very serious business. I am saying that we need an experienced politician. There are lots of us that are highly educated in Abia State who can do the job better than him. 

    “We are saying this because of the issues of agitations in South-East. I am asking them to begin to look inwardly, to look at the really core party people who worked for Buhari in the South-East. 

    “The one that is representing us now is not working in Abia State, we don’t know him, he’s not part of us. All the time we were campaigning, using our money to do sorts of things, they called us all sorts of names, he was not there with us, why being the Minister of Trade and Investment? 

    “The terrain of things in Abia State now, we need a very experienced person who will be able to reach all parties to bring things together. I am saying that we want Abia State to be the APC State by 2019 but with the way things are going now, if we don’t make changes quickly now, we won’t get there.” 

    He called on the Biafra agitators to blame successive governments in the South-East including the present Abia state government and not President Buhari for the backwardness in Abia state, the APC chieftain saying: “the issue now is that since 1999 in South-east especially in my state, Abia State, I can tell you that things are not really working. 

    “If I were Nnamdi Kanu, he would have begun to agitate within the people that have ruled that state since 1999 and begin to ask questions, what have you people done? Can you give us account of stewardship since 1999? You can see in Abia State that all the infrastructures have so dilapidated. You can see poverty is visible. If you visit there at night, is like a goat stand, nothing is working. 

    “I can tell you, I stand to be corrected, 85% of the youths are not working, they are jobless. Why do they agitate? They say idle hand is devil’s workshop because these youths are not doing anything, they are all vulnerable, that is why Nnamdi was able to peneterate them and begin to tell them what to do because they don’t have future and they are looking at the whole thing that nothing is working. 

    “I can tell you that Government house in Abia state is like three-bedroomed flat. What are we talking about? All the elders in Abia state are not speaking because of what they are getting from the governor. This is the right time for EFCC and ICPC to visit Abia state and begin to ask questions. What is going on? and if they don’t go to the root of this matter, IPOB is not working today, tomorrow, another one will come out continuously because poverty is visible in Abia state. 

    “For the past two years now, I can tell you that I have not seen any project going on in Abia state apart from the ones working on by the federal government. Nothing is going on, they are busy parading themselves and at the end of the month, they will just sit down at the government house and share the money and it ends there, nobody is speaking; Abians are not speaking; nobody is talking; everybody is afraid.”