Arrest Katsina Activist For Saying ‘Vote To Obi Is Vote To Biafra’ – Ohanaeze

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Friday, called for the arrest of one Mallam Mahdi Shehu, a Katsina-based activist, who alleged that a vote for Mr Peter Obi is a vote for Biafra. Obi is the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections.

Ohanaeze quoted Shehu as stating via a video that a vote for Obi ‘is synonymous with the destruction of the North’, and asked his listeners ‘what they stood to gain by voting Obi’.

Ohanaeze described such comments as ‘distasteful and capable of igniting ethno-religious tensions across the country’.

Dr Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze’s national publicity secretary, in a statement, said, “Persons that harbour such mindsets are the pernicious incubus which has for long held Nigeria down. We call on the federal government to arrest, prosecute and ultimately confine Mallam Mahdi Shehu in a prison to serve as a deterrent to others.

“If such a deep ethnic jingoism is allowed to play out in the oncoming campaigns, then the fledgling wing of the eagle may be irredeemably broken. There is no Nigerian that is comfortable with the current state of affairs in the country.

“Two major options are open to Nigeria in the 2023 general election: to continue with the abysmal tailspin of poverty, unemployment, rising inflation etc, on one hand, or a productive, combustive economic salvation on the other.”

It reminded Shehu that ‘Christian Southerners in the past willingly voted President Shehu Shagari, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and President Muhammadu Buhari on account of the manifestoes they presented to the populace’.

According to Ohanaeze, “The Igbo cosmopolitanism admits politicians of all persuasions to canvass for votes across the entire Igbo space without hindrance, bearing in mind that what Nigeria needs now is a transformative persona with ideologically based programmes and a proven record of accomplishments.”