[ad_1]
Leaders of the South-East geopolitical zone under the aegis of the Igbo Elders Consultative Forum, on Friday, declared their support for the presidential candidate of the Labor Party, Peter Obi, for the 2023 elections.
They also called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to release the leader of the Independent People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, in the interest of peace in Nigeria and the South East.
While describing Obi as the true “unifier”, leaders of the IECF, also known as Ime-Obi Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said their decision to support the former governor of Anambra State was devoid of tribal sentiment.
The President of IECF and former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, stated this in an interview with journalists in Abuja.
According to him, Obi’s presidency will put an end to separatist agitations by various groups in the country, especially that of IPOB.
Ezeife said: “We have, earlier now, agreed in the South and Middle Belt Forum to call all the candidates from the South-East, interview them and adopt a person. But that was overcome by the events. If you look at the candidates from A to Z, you will discover that there is one from the Southeast who is the candidate of all.
“He is the real unifier in Nigeria because he is someone who will eradicate poverty, eradicate insecurity, eradicate all the negatives associated with Nigeria. This person is Peter Obi and he is the person we will all support.”
According to him, the elders of the South-East were the ones who persuaded Obi to leave the Peoples Democratic Party in May.
“If you look at the records, you will find out that the elders in Abuja really worked hard to get him out as a candidate. We forced him to get out of the PDP so that he could run for the presidency. So the question of whether to even adopt him he does not pose as he is our trusted candidate, God anointed to remake and recreate Nigeria. He will make everyone happy.
“Obi will make Fulani belong to Nigeria and have a say. He will make sure that the Yoruba don’t want to go and he will also make Igbo and all groups stay in Nigeria and have the country restructured to work,” he said.
Speaking on the trials of Nnamdi Kanu, the elders in a statement by Ezeife and the Secretary of the IECF, Professor Charles Nwekeaku, said. disappointed over the decision of the Federal Government to comply with the judgment of the Court of Appeal that released the IPOB leader.
The IECF said the move by the government will have far-reaching consequences on the peace and security challenges in the South-East zone of the country.
The organization said: “The appeal of the Federal Government against the unanimous judgment of the Court of Appeal, which freed Mazi Nnamdi Kalu, is capable of worsening the security challenges and peace process initiatives in the South-East, preventing the conduct of the 2023 general elections in the South-East. the area, as well as its ripple effects on the peace, unity, stability and continued corporate existence of Nigeria.
“More worrying is the media reports that the brave and patriotic three members of the Court of Appeal that gave the laudable and landmark judgment of discharge of Nnamdi Kalu has all been transferred out of the FCT, Abuja, in four days from the delivery of the judgment, which annulled the remaining seven. the original 15 count-charges of the Federal Government against him. Justice Binta Nyako of a Federal Supreme Court, Abuja had earlier annulled and released from 8 of the 15 terrorism charges brought against him by the Federal Government.
“The Federal Court of Appeal’s unanimous decision on Nnamdi Kalu on October 13, quashing all seven remaining charges against him was not only historic, courageous and patriotic, but also a bare confirmation that the judiciary remains the the last hope of the common man, especially in the current dispensation of Nigeria where the executive arm of government is selective and careless about what laws to obey and those to disobey.
“We salute the courage and patriotism of this rare breed of justice who delivered an objective, popular and historic judgment on Kanu.”
According to them, as “responsible Igbo Elders, who believe in the peace, unity, stability and corporate existence of Nigeria, we appeal to the Federal Government to withdraw its appeal against the unanimous decision of the panel of three persons of the Court of Appeal. , and release our son, Kanu, as ordered by the Court.”
The elders observed that even if the Federal Government must appeal against the unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal, the government must first obey the decision of its own court as is the case with the recent Court Federal Industrial which ruled against the industrial action of the Academy. University Staff Union.
The IECF said: “The Federal Government has insisted that ASUU must obey the courts first before its appeal case is heard, and the latter. [ASUU] he fulfilled The Federal Government must obey the decision of the Court of Appeal and free Kanu to say, of equity, justice and fairness.
“Nigerians and the international community are living witnesses to series of efforts and visits by Igbo leaders, including the Ohaneze high-level world delegation led by the 94-year-old Minister of the First Republic, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, who had appealed to president Muhammadu Buhari, to explain the political solution and release Nnamdi Kalu to our elders.
“Chief Amaechi had pleaded that Mr. President release Mr. Kanu as a special favor and a birthday gift to him as an elder statesman. The President refused and insisted that the judiciary should be allowed to deal with the matter.
“The Court of Appeal has not only quashed the terrorism charges against Nnamdi Kalu, but has also declared that the Federal Government violated all known local and international laws in the forced surrender of Kanu to Nigeria, thereby rendering the charges of terrorism against him incompetent and illegal.
“We still appeal to Mr. President to cancel the Government’s appeal to the Supreme Court and release Nnamdi Kalu in honor of the memory of the late Chief Amaechi, who just passed without witnessing the release of Mr. Kanu.
“We also appeal to ndi Igbo, both at home and in the Diaspora, to remain calm and avoid any action that would aggravate the already tense security challenges in the South-East.
“We call on the international community, the European Union, the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and other progressive and democratic organizations and individuals to prevail on the Federal Government to obey the court’s ruling, and release Nnamdi Kanu, whose health conditions, we have learned, have deteriorated terribly.”
[ad_2]
Source link