- The people of the southeast have been warned against boycotting the 2019 general elections as canvassed by the leader of IPOB, Nnadmi Kanu
- The warning was issued by the prelate of Methodist Church, Nigeria, Most Reverend Samuel Uche
- The cleric says Ndigbo will be shooting themselves in the foot if they boycott the forthcoming elections
The Most Reverend Samuel Uche, the prelate of Methodist Church, Nigeria, has said that it will be counterproductive for Ndigbo to boycott the 2019 general elections as canvassed by the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Uche said this during a press conference in Umuahia, Abia state, on Monday, December 10, adding that the people of the southeast does not stand to gain anything from boycotting the polls.
Legit.ng gathers that Kanu had insisted that Ndigbo should not take part in the general elections but instead called for a referendum to have the Republic of Biafra.
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The cleric said: “I do not like the idea of Ndigbo boycotting the general elections. It would amount to shooting ourselves in the foot.”
He said that if Ndigbo boycotted the elections, other sections of Nigeria would still go ahead to elect leaders for the country during the polls.
He said that what Nigeria needed as a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious country, “is a mature leader not a bigot”.
He urged Nigerians to elect leaders, who would be ready to unite the various segments of the country in order to achieve a homogeneous nation. He also admonished the political class to promote things that would help to unite Nigeria.
The prelate dismissed the speculation that there was an agenda to Islamise the country, saying that it was practically untenable to “Islamise or Christianise” Nigeria.
He said that Nigeria is a secular nation and that every Nigerian should be free to worship and belong to any religion of their choice.
On the 2019 polls, he appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct credible, free and fair elections so that votes would count.
The cleric said: “INEC must ensure fairness in the conduct of the elections. Let the best candidate win, irrespective of his or her political party.
“All I want is credible elections. Any person that won should be declared, whether Muslim of Christian. There should not be any intimidation by security operatives and manipulation of results. Let the votes count."
He warned that candidates who failed to address the problems of insecurity, unemployment, salaries and pensions as well as general poverty should not be re-elected.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the G-23, a pro-Buhari group, said that Igbo would vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, so that power would be zoned to the southeast in 2023.
The group made the assertion via its southeast convener, Johnbosco Onunkwo, during a chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, on Saturday, September 1.
Onunkwo said Igbo would not repeat the mistake they made in 2015, when they supported former president Goodluck Jonathan on the basis of regional consideration, and neglected broad-based politics.
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Source: Legit.ng
