SouthEast wants referendum, not additional states – IPOB

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has kicked against the proposed creation of additional states, stressing that the South-East is only interested in referendum to determine their exit from Nigeria.

There have been moves to create an additional 31 new states in Nigeria, including five states from the Southeast.

The proposed states are Etiti State, Adada State, Urashi State, Orlu State, and Aba State.

Reacting to the development in a press statement on Monday, the spokesman for the pro-Biafran group, Emma Powerful, said the group is against the creation of new states because the existing states are bankrupt and not functioning properly.

Powerful insisted that what the Ndigbo want is an exit from Nigeria in a peaceful and democratic way.

He added that IPOB is calling for a referendum date from the Federal Government so that Biafrans can decide their fate whether to remain in one Nigeria or to exit into an Independent State of Biafra.

“Following the rumours that the Federal Government and the National Assembly proposed to create additional 31 new states in Nigeria, we the global family and movement of IPOB)worldwide wish to categorically state that Biafrans do not want creation of new States.

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“Instead of multiplying economically bankrupt states, the unworkable Nigerian unity should be dissolved. 

“IPOB movement is against the creation of new states because the existing states are bankrupt and not functioning properly.

“Creating more states is tantamount to creating more confusion, disunity, and insecurity. Nigerians are suffering because of the faulty foundations of the Nigerian state and the unsurmountable corruption in the Nigerian government. Nigerian politicians are deep to their necks in corruption.

“Nigeria is a country founded on fraud, sustained in fraud that is incapable of sustaining human and capital development. Any society built on fraud cannot stand. 

“That is why IPOB and other rational indigenous minds in Nigeria are calling for the dissolution of Nigeria.

“At Independence given to them by the British in 1960, Nigeria had three major regions. Later, the Mid-Western Region was created after a referendum, making it the fourth region. 

“These Regions were progressive and competitive because they enjoyed constitutionally granted autonomy,” the statement partly read. 

According to the group, Nigeria’s woes started when it created 12 states in order to divide Biafrans and to stop the Biafrans from fighting the war of 1967-1970 in unison.

They insisted that the decision to divide and carve out some ethnic groups from one region to another was the beginning of ethnic tensions in Nigeria today.

“Today, the incessant states creation has destroyed the progressive regions and has become the useless states that depend on Abuja handouts in the name of allocation sharing to survive.

“Even if President Bola Tinubu’s government creates an additional 100 states, the political equation between the North, West, and East (previous regions) will never be balanced. 

“The previous ethnic bigotry Northern Military leaders has already created unfavourable political equations that are inimical to the unity of Nigeria.

“Postponing the division of Nigeria is embracing the evil days, which are here now with us. IPOB says no to the new states creation proposal that will include the Biafra Region. 

“Our position is clear, we don’t want our region to be balkanised or broken down any further, instead Ndigbo need our Igbo brothers and sisters, villages, clans, and whole regions carved into Kogi, Benue, and Edo states back into Alaigbo.

“The Federal Government can create more States to suit them in their Nigeria, while Ndigbo establishes an independent state of Biafra. What Ndigbo want is an exit from Nigeria in a peaceful and democratic way.

“That is why IPOB is calling for a referendum date from the Nigerian government so that Biafrans can decide their fate whether to remain in one delusional united Nigeria or to exit, into an Independent State of Biafra,” the statement added.