IPOB Not against Anambra Governorship Poll, Says Obiano

Group has no powers to stop election, says ID
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, has said the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has no intention to stop the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

He said the government would not allow anyone truncate the election as long as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has sanctioned it.

The governor, who came to the APGA national secretariat to pick nomination form for the governorship ticket of his party, also gave update on last Sunday’s killings in a church in Ozubulu, saying some suspects had been arrested, adding that he would make sure the killers are arrested dead or alive.

He, however, dismissed any insinuation that the attack was done by either the Boko Haram terrorist or people agitating for self-determination.
When asked about his reaction to the threat by IPOB that election will not take place in the state, Obiano said: “That is not correct. The fellow you mentioned did not say there will be no election by yesterday (Monday), you would have heard the words of veterans who met with me, these are the same people who fought the war, 87 of them.

“They were at the lodge to meet me and what they said is that they will support the election and they have endorsed my election on the second term journey,” he said.
The governor explained that during the meeting he had with the Biafran war veterans, their leader and a renowned Biafran apologist, Gen. Achuzia expressed support for the poll.

“The leader of that group, Gen. Achuzia, most of you should know him, is the brain in IPOB, so that comment that election won’t take place in Anambra, let me begin to dissipate that now. They didn’t say that and there would be election in Anambra, of course nobody can stop election in Anambra when INEC has already mapped out time table. We would not even allow anybody to do that, to stop election in Anambra State, we won’t allow that.”

Obiano, who came in with funfair to obtain the governorship forms to contest second term yesterday declared that from all indication, he has won the forthcoming election.
I have already won the election. Haven’t you seen my performance? My performance in three years will tell you what I can do in eight years.

“By that, mean by the time I leave office in the next four and half years Anambra will be like Lagos. It will be self-sufficient and therefore whatever comes from Abuja will be additional, that is the whole objective. And we are doing that in Agriculture, in trade and commerce, in oil and gas, industrialisation and our airport will be up and running in the next three years.

“Security will be critical where people will sleep with their two eyes closed because I will be awake to make sure they sleep well. Agriculture will be brought to a level that is unprecedented. We are going to be number one state in agriculture in Nigeria purely based on what we are doing now, you know we have Anambra rice.”

When asked on his own intervention on the leadership crisis rocking APGA, Obiano said: “What I can assure you is that we have only one National Chairman and that National Chairman is Victor Oye. Every other guy or whoever is parading himself is not recognised and will fall like a pack of cards in the front of court.”

On the Ozubulu killings, the governor said: “Let me make this point, Ozobulu killings is not the kind of terrorism you use to know, it is not by Boko Haram or anybody. Again it is not by people agitating for separation.

“It is a feud between two gangstars that live outside Nigeria. They killed themselves over there and they decided to come home and both of them are from that village where the church is built. We have picked up some guys and very soon, I’m very confident that we are going to pick up the guy that did the killings dead or alive.”

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of Independent Democrats (ID), Chief Edozie Madu, has declared that IPOB does not possess the powers to stop the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State.

Madu who was in Awka yesterday for the inauguration of the party’s women league and 10-man committee ahead of the governorship election in the state at the party’s secretariat.
Madu said if IPOB wanted to test its popularity in the state, that it should form its own party where it would have all the powers to dictate to its members and not on Anambra governorship election.

According to him, “they are just jokers and nobody should take them seriously. Nobody will listen to them because their threat is an empty one.”
However, Madu charged the committees to be fishers of men in all their local government areas and wards, adding that his party was fully prepared and ready for the Anambra governorship election.
He condemned the last Sunday’s killings by unknown gunmen at Ozubulu, describing it as barbaric and satanic.