Three candidates in the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State have called for dialogue with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group agitating for the secession of the Southeast from Nigeria.
The trio spoke yesterday during a “Live Debate” organised by Arise News.
The programme was attended by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Andy Uba; that of the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof. Charles Soludo and Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The IPOB agitation is threatening the November 6 poll as the group has declared a one-week sit-at-home in the Southeast to demand the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
The one-week sit-at-home, a similar order which the people of the region have been observing every Monday, will begin on Friday, November 5, a day to the election.
Asked to speak on IPOB and their agitation, Uba said: “I believe in engagement. If you don’t engage them, how will you know what their problem is? I believe in engagement to dialogue, because their problem is work.”
Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said IPOB deserves to be heard.
He said: “I’m on record to have said that IPOB deserves to be heard, that the agitation cannot be shot down by a gun.
“We need to have a dialogue, bring everybody to the table and discuss those specific issues that are their agitation.”
Ozigbo blamed the Federal and state governments for the way the group’s agitation has turned out.
He said: “There are certain things IPOB does through agitation that I support. But when they get to some extreme, I condemn them.
“The real issue is: where is the heart of all of this? If not for the way the states and the Federal Government have handled IPOB, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
“Let’s start by accepting responsibility. We created extremism. So, we need the right person to inspire hope for that dialogue to happen.
“When they see you as the problem already, you can’t be the one to negotiate.”
Ozigbo urged the Federal Government to release Kanu and de-proscribe the group.
On the insecurity in Anambra State, Soludo said it “is politically motivated”.
He added: “There are some people who think that they gain a political advantage by creating a sense of fear and insecurity so that they will have voters suppression.”
On voter apathy that threatens the forthcoming election, Uba noted that such had always been the case during elections in the state.
The APC candidate blamed Governor Willie Obiano for not handling the situation well.
He said: “In this case, the governor has not done what he’s supposed to do.
“In 2007 when I ran for governor of Anambra State, I engaged the MASSOB group that was involved. I went to visit the leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, in prison and talked to him about their stance against election in Anambra State.
“I said: ‘Let’s sit down and talk about it.’ At the end, we got it ironed out and there was an election without violence.”
Uba said Governor Obiano and his APGA-led administration ought to engage those threatening the forthcoming election to know their grouse.
“The problem is unemployment. That is why the violence is what it is today,” he said, promising to solve the problem, if voted into power.
But responding to Uba’s comment about APGA and the governor, Soludo said the senator only engages when he wants to contest in an election.
The APGA candidate adding that as soon the election is over, his voice is never heard again.
“I am the one who has engaged in and out of season. You were in the Senate for eight years, not one word about IPOB and its agitation. You were only engaging when you want to run.
“Insecurity in Anambra State started with the PDP government, orchestrated by my brother on my right hand (Uba), kidnapping a sitting governor.
“The PDP legacy in Anambra burnt down the state. The violence, kidnapping and others were started by the PDP when Uba was at the engine room stoking up the fire.”
Ozigbo blamed the APC and APGA, saying they have failed Nigerians in providing security.
The PDP candidate said it was time to go back to the security format of former Governor Peter Obi who dumped APGA for the PDP.
He said: “About security, there is a lot we can do. We should go back to where Peter Obi left it, providing monthly money and vehicles to the vigilantes and making sure that they were well empowered.”
Ozigbo noted that Anambra State needed a thriving economy to tackle the insecurity in the state.
“When people are gainfully employed and busy, they will not transcend into criminality,” he said.