The group, Taraba for Good Governance, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the state governor, Ishaku Darius, are responsible for their current predicament. The group, in a statement
signed by its president, Abdullahi Sule in Jalingo, while hailing the recent tribunal ruling which sacked Ishaku of the PDP and returned candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Aisha Alhassan, as governor, faulted speculation by the Taraba Mandate Group, that some non-indigenes of the state were responsible for the development.
The group particularly faulted an allegation that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) influenced the ruling, saying, “instead of trashing around and looking for who to blame for their crisis, the PDP and Ishaku should inwards. How can the former Vice President, who is not even an indigene of the state be behind a ruling that sacked its governor?”
Sule called on those making the allegation to read the ruling and understand the matter before making any comment. “Everyone knows full well that Ishaku who contested under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not properly nominated by his party for the last April 11, 2015 election, thereby violating the Electoral Act. And that was the grounds for which he was sacked.
We were all here in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital when the All Progressive Congress (APC) conducted her primaries and Senator Aisha won. We all saw how the entire process went and that proved to Tarabans and indeed Nigerians that she was duly nominated by her party, the (APC)” he said.
He added: “Why is that group blaming a non-indigene of the state for the problem when we all know who brought Ishaku and who the god-father of Taraba politics is? The former vice president is occupied with too many things to start meddling in the affairs of Taraba State.”
Sule expressed hope that the tribunal ruling will be upheld by the Appeal Court, to “engender internal democracy and put a stop to the principle of imposition which has characterised the nation’s democracy”. “People must be allowed to choose their leaders. A situation where a party will select someone because he has money, is influential or even because he has an influential god-father will not aid growth of our democracy”, he said.
The group also flayed a situation whereby people condemn INEC or other authorities when things do not go their way, adding that every situation or matter is peculiar and must be viewed in that light.
“Aisha Alhasan has become a household name in Taraba and her supporters cut across tribes and religions. She actually won that election, but when INEC declared Ishaku winner, this group that is talking now did not see anything wrong with that. Why is it now that the governor has been sacked that they are condemning INEC”, he queried. He expressed optimism that Hajia Aisha will soon be sworn in as governor and called on people of the state to remain calm.
Worried by the spate of protests, former Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Chief Simon Okeke said that irrespective of marginalization of the zone, there is no justification for the South East to be asking for separate state from Nigeria.
Speaking against the backdrop of the agitation for the actualization of Biafra by MASSOB and IPOB, Chief Okeke said that although the South East had a very good case for agitation against being marginalized, they s hould present their case lawfully.
Chief Okeke therefore called for the establishment of South East Development Commission, SEDC, to look into the problems militating against the South East development and resolution of issues that cause youth restiveness. He further urged the agitators of MASSOB and IPOB to hold their governors and National Assembly representatives who were voted to represent them but had represented their pockets responsible for their woes.
Meeting with FG
Meantime, the Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, had commenced negotiation with the Federal Government for a political solution to the issues surrounding the protests by IPOB and MASSOB, which will ultimately lead to an unconditional release of the detained leader of IPOB and promoter of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
To this end, the leadership of OYC met with the Federal Government in Abuja, Tuesday, through the Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Solomon Dalong.
According to the National President of OYC, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the meeting looked at political solution to the problem of the agitations of the pro-Biafra groups and also the release of their leader, Kanu.
The delegation to the meeting held at the Minister’s office, according to Isiguzoro, included the patron of the OYC, Chief M.O. Kanu and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youths Development, Mr. Chinyeaka Oha.
Isiguzoro explained that at the meeting with the Minister, OYC urged the Federal Government to release Kanu unconditionally as being demanded by IPOB and the Uchenna Madu-led MASSOB at the South East stakeholders’ meeting held in Enugu, Sunday.
Biafra’s true leadership
However, in the heat of the protests,another group, the Movement for Outright Discontinuation of the Exploitation and Annihilation of Easterners, MODEAE, yesterday, stated that the action of IPOB in agitating for the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu and restoration of Biafra was quite justifiable.
MODEAE said the on-going protest is expected to achieve its main objectives which were the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu and restoration of Biafra, adding that the protest would not stop, but would continue unabated with a renewed vigour until these two conditions were met.
In a press statement issued yesterday in Onitsha, the leader of the group, Mr. Arinze Awogu declared: “As the Biafra protest rages, it is good that we remember the purpose of this quest; what we are struggling to safeguard and why we are so determined to continue to fight for the release of Kanu and the restoration of the independence of Biafra.
“We have borne the brunt of this quest. We have suffered marginalization, deprivation, ostracization and all manner of conceivable deaths in the hands of an enemy that is so cruel, so wicked and has used all manner of weapons to not only cage us as a people and stop us from developing at our own pace, keeping us in a state of arrested development, but has without respite hounded us into detention and daily, murdering us for daring to ask for our freedom.
“But today, we rise up to recite before the enemy the portion of the Biafran anthem that says “if the price we owe to pay is death, so let us all die without any fear of death.
“Death and its harbingers have ceased to frighten us. We have opted for death instead. Life is now meaningless to us. We consider ourselves dead already and as such, we are not afraid of dying . This protest must go on. It is a battle of homeland and we are putting in our all.
Unending marginalization
In tandem with the claims of MODEAE, Eze Ndigbo of Lagos, Eze Nwabueze Ohazulike has also attributed the long neglect of the South East by the Federal Government as the reason behind the sporadic demand for the creation of a sovereign Biafra State which has affected economy and social life in the region.
Ohazulike in a statement said that the South East region of Nigeria has been neglected and marginalized since independence, noting that the agitators are reacting to the poor distribution of the country resources which has culminated in the underdevelopment of the region.
“Nobody cares about the South East Zone, we have the highest number of unemployed youths. We have the highest rate of bad roads which is as a result of erosion that has crippled the region. Some communities have been cut off due to flooding and erosion and other natural causes.
“Our people cannot go to the farm again because their lands are no longer safe.”
Treat Ndigbo fairly—Iwuanyanwu
Adding his voice to the need for peace, elder statesman, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu urged President Muhammadu Buhari to treat Ndigbo fairly and ensure they find more accommodation in Nigeria in the interest of the unity of the nation.
Iwuanyanwu who stated this at the Integrated Economic Summit organized by Aka Ikenga in Aba, Abia state, said Ndigbo are major shareholders in Nigeria who have paid more sacrifice than any other group to develop the country.
He also called on President Buhari to shun people who feed him with false reports that Ndigbo hate him.
According to him, “Ndigbo are the major shareholders in Nigeria. If Nigeria is a corporate enterprise, Ndigbo own over 70 per cent equity and deserve to be given their due. The Igbo man is the only Nigerian who believes in one united Nigeria. This is why you find Ndigbo investing in all parts of Nigeria. We don’t have any problem with Buhari; we respect him but he must shun those who tell him that Ndigbo hate him.”
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