Nwabueze warns Igbo against boycotting 2019 elections

•OYC alleges plot to destabilise southeast
•Uwazuruike, group warn Kanu against moves

Constitutional Lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, yesterday warned Ndigbo that boycotting the 2019 general elections would be a suicidal mistake.

He gave the warning in a reaction to threat by the exiled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu.

The foremost lawyer, a staunch supporter of Kanu, had recently brokered peace between Ohaneze Ndigbo and IPOB members at his Atani home in Ogbaru Local Council Area.

The elder statesman said in a terse statement that he had repeatedly advised against such move because of its implication on Ndigbo.

He said: “My stand on the boycott of election is that it is a suicidal mistake. For this reason, I am totally opposed to it, and have repeatedly advised against it.”

Nwabueze had been in the vanguard of calls for the restructuring of Nigeria, and had recently warned in an interview with a national newspaper, that Igbo presidency will be a mirage without a reform.

He urged Ohaneze and IPOB to work together to forge a common front for the Igbo nation.

According to him, leaders could only be relevant if they carry their people along, adding that Igbo people could not afford to be disunited at this crucial period in Nigeria.

He had also canvassed unity at a recent meeting at Atani which the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Dr. Nnia Nwodo, Emeritus Dean of Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev Maxwell Anikwenwa and counsel to IPOB, Mr. Aloy Ejimakor attended.

“We will not be united if followers are disenchanted with the leadership,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youths Council (OYC) has alleged that a presidential candidate from southwest was plotting to distabilise the southeast ahead of the 2019 elections.

In a statement by its leader Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro in Abakaliki, the group declared that it has adopted the joint ticket of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, and warned those planning to cause trouble to stay away.