The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Sunday said it never ordered its members and the Eastern Security Network, ESN, to disrupt the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
IPOB made the remark while accusing the Federal Government of heavily lobbying international organizations against its members.
IPOB accused the Nigerian Government of lobbying US institutes and making false statements against its members.
Emma Powerful, the spokesman of IPOB, made the remark while faulting Intel by two US agencies.
Powerful said the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI) should have known that the Nigerian Government was behind the insecurity challenges in the Southeast.
A statement by Powerful reads: “We, the global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the leadership of Mazi Nnamdi KANU wish to advise the two American institutes who were sponsored to make fallacious, and false statements against IPOB towards Nigeria’s compromised 2023 election to be circumspect in their reportage.
“If American secret agencies are sincere with their Intel, the two US-based Institute, National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI) should have known that [the] Nigerian government and her security apparatus are the ones sponsoring criminals and bandits to cause confusion and havoc in the South East Region and turn around to blame it on IPOB.
“It is unfortunate that these two organisations are making caricatures of themselves in their effort to help [the] Nigerian government blackmail IPOB.”
Powerful stressed IPOB’s neutrality towards the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
IPOB, he said, “still remains neutral towards Nigeria’s 2023 general elections because we know what we are looking for. IPOB has never issued any order to disrupt elections in Nigeria in 2023.
According to him: “Those people using ESN and IPOB’s name to issue statements are not IPOB; they’re sponsored by Nigerian politicians, Nigerian government, and her security agents to blackmail IPOB. We challenge the United States-based institutes to provide evidence where IPOB has made an official statement or ordered disruption of 2023 elections in Nigeria.”
