Adedokun Waliyu 
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has begged the Indigenous People of Biafra to allow the 2023 general elections to hold in the South-East states.
It had earlier been reported that the spokesperson of IPOB, Emma Powerful, had in a statement, on Thursday stated that they would not compromise their agitations for Nigerian politics.
He also stressed that IPOB did not believe in “Nigerian elections”, noting that their agitations were still intact and nothing would change the group’s resolve towards the “fight to achieve Biafra freedom through peaceful non-violent globally-accepted practices.”
Powerful was reacting to a statement credited to controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Gumi, who alleged that IPOB agitation had slowed down in the South-East since Peter Obi picked the presidential ticket of the Labour Party.
But the Ohanaeze National Publicity Secretary, Alex Ogbonnia, in an interview with PUNCH, appealed to iIPOB to sheathe their swords and avoid allowing their anger to consume them.
“We appeal to our brothers in IPOB to allow the election to hold. Their agitations are understandable but they must not let their anger consume them.
“Even during the turn of (Chukwuma) Soludo, they first refused but when we appealed to them, they listened. During the turn of (Willie) Obiano, we appealed to them, and they listened. This time around, we want to plead that they also listen to us,” he said.
