Anambra Poll: Group woos IPOB members to vote, not fight

Igbos for a Progressive Nigeria (IPAN), a socio-cultural pressure group, has appealed to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to rescind its decision to truncate Anambra state Nov. 6 governorship election if its leader Nnamdi Kanu is not set free before Nov. 4.
It would be recalled that IPOB issued a statement through the Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful requesting that it leader was innocent and should be granted freedom or else the entire southeast region would be grounded from Nov. 5, a day to Anambra guber poll.
But IPAN in Awka at the weekend, felt it would be counter productive and a double jeopardy if the governorship election was not conducted against President Muhammadu Buhari’s express order that nothing should stop the election from being held.
Mr Lawrence Onuzulike, National President of IPAN said that should IPOB uphold its Nov 5 stay-at-home order in the southeast geopolitical zone, Anambra governorship election would not only be marred by irregularities, it would also produce the wrong person as governor.
Onuzulike emphasized that rather than scuttle the election, IPOB members should in the spirit of oneness vote and also encourage their families to come out and vote for the candidate of their choice for a better and more virile Anambra state.
He said, “IPOB sit-at-home order is directly targeted at Anambra guber election even though it was crafted to make it look as if they are giving the federal government ultimatum to release their leader within one week or they shut down the whole southeast.
“Remember also that Mr. President has given a directive to security agencies to provide adequate security to make sure that voters come out and are protected too.
“We call on the federal government to not just say the words but also match them with actions.
“They have mobilized about 34,000 police officers but we also need to have that confidence that on the election day every single voter is protected.
“Declaring sit-at-home on an election period, there is a danger that only people voting for a particular candidate will come out on that day and that is not good for Ndigbo.
“We need IPOB people to come and vote. We need other population to come and vote. Let the right person win. IPOB members are Igbo people and the decision the next governor will take will be binding on them and their families.