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Nnamdi Kanu calls off election boycott

By Timileyin Omilana
15 February 2019   |   6:43 am
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu Thursday night asked members of the separatist group to participate in Nigeria's general elections on Saturday after initially calling for a boycott. "Having confirmed this evening that all our preconditions and terms have been met, signed, sealed and delivered; I hereby call-off the election boycott…

A supporter of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu holds a Biafra flag during a rally in support of Kanu, who is expected to appear at a magistrate court in Abuja, Nigeria December 1, 2015. Kanu – an activist who divides his time between the UK and Nigeria, spreading his ethos on social media and Radio Biafra – was arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy and belonging to an illegal society. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu Thursday night asked members of the separatist group to participate in Nigeria’s general elections on Saturday after initially calling for a boycott.

“Having confirmed this evening that all our preconditions and terms have been met, signed, sealed and delivered; I hereby call-off the election boycott across Biafraland on Feb. 16, 2019,” Kanu said.

Kanu had told members of the group to sit home on the election day as a form referendum to determine their continued allegiance to Nigeria.

The group, seeking an independent state of Biafra, said the boycott will serve as a form of a referendum of the predominantly Igbo people of the South-east’s wish to secede from Nigeria.

“IPOB will liberate Biafra and we will not take part in any election until we get a referendum, and this is not negotiable, we will achieve this by every necessary means,” Kanu said in a broadcast.

The referendum is to “ascertain number of those who want Nigeria politics and those who want Biafra freedom through a peaceful and democratic process for the sovereignty of our dear nation Biafra,” IPOB spokesman, Comrade Emma Powerful said in a statement.

The IPOB leader is facing charges of treasonable felony at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

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