Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has reassured Nigerians that its leadership has no intention to call for the boycott of this year’s general election.
IPOB, however, explained that its position does not detract from its agitation for total freedom of Ndigbo through a referendum.
The group stated this in a statement in which it urged the public to discountenance the recent utterance by Maj.-Gen Abdul-Rahman Dambazzu that it ( IPOB) remained a threat to the election, especially in the Southeast.
IPOB, in the statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary Emma Powerful yesterday, said the comment by Dambazzu, a former Interior minister, indicated that some cabals have concluded plans to create fear in the people that will enable them rig election and blame it on IPOB.
The statement reads in part: “These cabals are sponsoring terrorists’ influx into Igboland that are killing and sacking communities so that there will be no voting due to desertion of communities in Igboland.
“It’s a premeditated plan by the cabals to blame IPOB for voter apathy in Igbo land. They are also responsible for staging and parading criminals who claim to be working for IPOB. It is all part of the planned agenda to rig elections while blaming IPOB.
“Even though we have consistently said that IPOB is not interested in Nigeria politics, the handlers of international terrorism and their leaders daily link IPOB with their plot to select Nigeria’s leaders and in the shambolic 2023 selection that they call an election. They are just preparing ignorant people’s minds to blame IPOB for their failure in an already rigged election.
“We know that the flippant and unguarded statements from Dambazzu were to discredit us as they continue coordinated and sustained media attacks against IPOB. But they can’t discourage us nor make us change our agenda of restoring Biafra’s freedom.
“We have maintained that IPOB has no plans to tell our people to boycott elections. We have chosen to remain neutral in the forthcoming 2023 election. Anyone obstructing the election process is definitely working with agents and not IPOB.
“IPOB has nothing to do with Nigeria’s election. We are focused on the release of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and a Biafra Referendum date.”
