Traditional rulers from the South East resident in the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, have cautioned politicians against hate speech which threatenes to tear the country apart.
The Association of Ndi Ezes In the 19 Northern States and Abuja served the caution at a meeting in Abuja, where they emphasised the need for politicians to be very careful with their utterances, especially in this period of electioneering.
A communique signed by the group’s President, Uche Egenti, and Secretary, Silas Ajah, canvassed support for the use of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and card readers for the elections on March 28 and April 11.
They said they, “being the grassroots leaders of Igbos in the Diaspora, should be prayerful, patriotic and pragmatic in our utterances, decisions and actions.
“The imbalance meted to the Igbo in terms of political appointments since 1999 when democracy returned to Nigeria is not only inhumane but ungodly, as it is unconstitutional.”
The group argued that the concept of an Igbo man not being in the security council in modern day Nigeria is not acceptable.
“The drum beat of war that is going round the Nigerian nation is not acceptable and we plead to all those that are investing in bombs to reinvest in brains and ask the Igbo man of the ripple effects of the past civil war because we the Igbo are not ready to go to war again.”
It canvassed that PVCs be used to lend credibility to the elections and that card reader machines be used for decency “as we cannot afford to be typewriter repairers in the modern day of computers.”
Egenti told TheNiche in an interview that over 88 Eze Udos from different states and councils in the North and Abuja attended the meeting.
He said the association wants the general elections to go smoothly, without any rancor.
“We are all out to support whatever will make these elections peaceful, credible, transparent, free, and fair. This is the reason we have thrown our weight behind the clamour by the overwhelming majority of Nigerian people that both PVCs and card readers should be used in these elections,” he said.
In his view, those who oppose the use of PVCs and card readers “must have sinister motives. We cannot continue to be made a laughing stock among the comity of nations because of the way we have conducted elections since 1999.
“This time around, we need to join the civilised world in doing what is proper. These elections must be conducted in a credible, free and fair manner. Anything outside that is unacceptable to us.”
Egenti also warned politicians, especially those from the South East to be careful in their statements.
“We don’t want anything that will endanger the lives of our people, especially here in the North where they reside. We are not going to fight anybody’s war for him. Ndigbo have suffered enough in this country.”