IPOB faults Osinbajo for excluding Nnamdi Kanu from meeting with south-east leaders

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has criticised Acting President Yemi Osinbajo for not including its leader Nnamdi Kanu in his recent meeting with south-east leaders.

Osinbajo had on Wednesday met with leaders of the region to caution against hate speeches, which he said could lead to wars that are impossible to end.

Emma Powerful, media and publicity secretary, in a statement on Thursday, said the acting president met with people who do not speak for the masses.

The secessionist group described the meeting as a waste of resources, noting that it is only Kanu that can set an agenda for its people.

“This meeting, we understood, was convened at the instigation of the Nigerian acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, following the political fallout from the hugely successful IPOB sit-at-home order of 30th of May, 2017,” the statement read.

“From time, we firmly resolved that nobody among the governors or politicians can set an agenda for IPOB except our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

“Therefore, any meeting without the consent of our leader or those nominated by him in a representative capacity, is a complete waste and is unacceptable to IPOB.

“With one or two exceptions and with the greatest respect to the attendees at this Nigeria-sponsored gathering in Abuja, the so-called South-East delegation is in no way representative of the views of the leadership of IPOB worldwide, neither can they claim with any degree of sincerity to be speaking for the masses.

“Therefore, all that Professor Osinbajo has succeeded in achieving with this meeting is to waste scarce resources that could have been channelled towards more useful purposes.

“None of those that attended this meeting with Osinbajo gave the order for people to sit at home on May 30th. So, we are at a loss to understand the justification for their invitation to the meeting to discuss something they knew nothing about.”