THE Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide faction led by Chidi Ibeh has urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to accede to the request by some Northern groups for the succession of the South-East from Nigeria.
The group’s Secretary-General Okechukwu Isiguzoro said this in a statement on Thursday.
He said his group had assessed the standpoints of the Northern Groups that approached Abuja Federal High Court to request that the National Assembly should be coerced by the Court to set in place the motion that will lead to the succession of the region.
He accused the group of being sponsored by the Northern Governors Forum against the South-East.
According to him, the action was taken by the Northern group to make sure that the South-East does not succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
“The plaintiffs, led by Nastura Ashir Shariff, Balarabe Rufa’I, Abdul-Aziz Sulaiman and Aminu Adam, explained that their action was informed on the need to curtail violence and destruction as a result of the agitation for secession championed by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),” he said.
“We described this Northern tricks against southeast as a welcome development.
“Ohanaeze applauded the Northern groups for indirectly divulging that there are clandestine conspiracies from the North to push out the South-East out of Nigeria, as being championed by the Coalition of Northern Nigeria Groups.”
Isiguzoro said the people of the South-East were prepared and are open to all options either to remain as part of Nigeria or to break away from the Nigerian state as it was being requested by the Norther group.
Ohanaeze expressed support for lawyers of Igbo extraction being led by Chuks Maoma in defence of the suit by the Northern group.
The ICIR had earlier reported that there was a pending suit before an Abuja Federal Government to compel the National Assembly to facilitate the exit of Igbos out of Nigeria.
The suit was filed before an Abuja Federal High Court by a group of elders and politicians from the North led by Nastura Shariff, Balarabe Rufa’I, Abdul-Aziz Sulaiman and Aminu Adam.
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In the suit, they pleaded that this should be done before the conclusion of the ongoing amendment to the Nigerian Constitution.
The group argued that allowing the Igbos to secede would end violence and destruction in the South-East.
It argued that allowing the secession of the Igbo from Nigeria would prevent the repeat of the 1967 to 1970 civil war that led to wanton destruction of lives and property.
They also said this would put an end to the agitations by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra led by Nnamdi Kanu.
