Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu has called off the planned boycott of elections by members of the group in the South East.
Recall that Kanu had earlier pronounced that elections would not take place in the zone unless the Federal Government agreed to a referendum to determine the sovereignty of Biafra.
He therefore ordered IPOB members not to participate in the elections while urging the entire South East to boycott the process.
Many Igbo groups and well placed individuals including the South East governors and Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural organisation of the Igbo, had however, faulted Kanu on this issue.
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In a statement issued on Friday in Awka, Anambra State by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group reversed itself saying it reached the decision to allow polls in the area after consultations with stakeholders.
The statement read in part “It’s important we notify the world at large and the indefatigable global IPOB family in particular that our supreme leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has called-off the election boycott in Biafraland.
“After a brief emergency session of the Directorate of State late last night presided over by our leader, it was determined that all our terms and conditions had been met by those wishing us to lift the ban on voting, it was unanimously agreed that the boycott should be lifted.
“The signed document agreeing to IPOB terms and conditions are in our possession and will be made public in due course.
“We can, therefore, state with utmost sense of responsibility and pride that IPOB has accomplished what no other people or group has been able to do in the history of our people. Without prejudice, this will go down as the defining moment when the irreversibility of the restoration of Biafra was firmly entrenched in the subconscious of all and sundry. As a result of which we can state categorically that Biafra is a lot closer than we think as a result of this.”
