The Igbo Elders Consultative Forum says anybody calling for a sit-in or boycott of the general elections would be treated and regarded as an enemy of the Igbo nation.
The forum on Wednesday stated that since independence in 1960, 2023 is the best chance for the South – East to produce the president of Nigeria.
The Igbo Elders, comprising the former chairman of the Police Service Commission, Chief Simeon Okeke; a former governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife; and a senior lecturer in the Department of Public Administration at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Prof. Charles Nwekeaku, among others, issued the warning during a press conference in Abuja.
They insisted that the general elections must take place in the South-East.
Okeke advised those agitating for Biafra that the best way to achieve it would be through their votes and not bullets.
He said, “Elections in the South-East must be held. We urge the people of the South-East to turn out in force on February 25 to vote for the candidates of their choice. Those calling for a sit-in at home will be regarded as enemies of the Igbo nation.
“To those who are demanding a separate country called Biafra, don’t forget that your fathers and grandfathers demanded and fought to have that same Biafra roughly 52 years ago. Millions died in action and out of sheer starvation. Some of us here participated in that bloody war. What makes you believe that you can win that war this time through extreme activism? That war was fought with guns, armoured tanks, etc. We must think strategically in determining how to structure the future for our people, children, and grandchildren.”
