Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said that the emergence of former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, as the Labour Party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections has brought relative peace to the South-East region.
In a statement he posted on his Facebook page, the cleric said the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB’s support for Obi had indicated that the Biafran agitation was political.
Linking the current security crisis in the country to lack of representation, he said the Oduduwa agitation had also slowed down following the hope that the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, would emerge as president.
The statement reads partly, “The IPOB rhetoric and loud voice of Biafra agitations have muffled out with the emergence of Peter Obi as the Labor Party’s presidential candidate. To them, Igbos have a platform. It’s clear now that the entire IPOB outcry was a political gimmick to get power.
“The Oduduwa clamours have abated also since Tinubu has clinched the APC ticket never to resurface again until probably if he didn’t win the race.
“Northern Ultra conservatives too have no mouth to speak of marginalisation or suppression of representation, the NNPP kwankwaso has satisfied that segment of the society. No more claims of candidate suppression and manipulation.”
According to him, the major problem of the country now is whether the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, “will conduct free, fair, and transparent elections” in 2023.
