June 12: Southeast Group Urges Ndi-Igbo to Boycott Event, Says Buhari Denied Igbos GCON

Ahead of tomorrow's conferrement of posthumous national honour of the

Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR) on late

business baron, Chief MKO Abiola, the Southeast Youths and Elders

Forum have charged Igbo leaders and friends of Ndi-Igbo to boycott the

event in protest to what it described as continuous marginalisation of

the race by the government at the centre.
The group queried the rationality for awarding the honour of Grand

Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on late human rights

activist Gani Fawehinmi without extending same gesture to then

Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Professor

Humphrey Nwosu who conducted the best election in Nigeria's history?

The statement said
The group noted that the systematic annihilation of the race and the

cavalier attitude developed towards the sons and daughters of Igbo

race interms of appointments and infrastructures have reached its

zenith and it will no longer allow it to continue.
The group also blasted Igbo political leaders for supporting Buhari's

re-election bid in 2019 without proper negotiation on what the

Southeast region would benefit if re-elected.
A situation where our frontline political jobbers throw their supports

to Buhari without any written agreement on how the region would

benefit from his re-election is a big slap on our face.

This is not to talk of Rotimi Amaechi who in all of his political

career, rejected his Igbo affiliation but starts claiming it suddenly

because he needed the race to fly because he has realised that his

South-South region cannot give to him what he needed to be a national

political player.
We therefore advice President Buhari to ignore the Igbo sons and

daughters deceiving him with their false promises of delivering the

Southeast votes to him in 2019.
Those who are promising him victory in the region are nothing but

political fraudsters who are only interested in making money from him

as well as avoiding imprisonment for their past lootings.

We are therefore telling Mr. President in frank terms that before we

will deliver the Southeast votes to him in 2019, he must first of all

drop Professor Yemi Osinbajo as his Vice and pick an Igbo man for his

replacement.
This is the first condition that must be met before we start further

negotiations with him on how to win the southeast votes.

Refusal to do so, then he should stop wasting his time as

southeasterners are not fools.
Signed:
Mazi E. K. Ikechukwu,
Director of Media,
Southeast Youths and Elders Forum