S/East govs didn’t act fast on IPOB —APC chieftain

A Bauchi-based Igbo businessman and member of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief Matthew Ozichukwu, has chided the governors  in the South-East for not taking a prompt and decisive action on the unlawful activities of the now proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) agitators, led by Nnamdi Kanu.

Ozichukwu, who spoke to journalists in Bauchi on Friday evening, also opined that the recent visit of the Abia State governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, to the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, was “too late, because, whatever he went to do in Abuja, those that have been killed are not coming back to life. Maybe he was trying to avert possible declaration of a state of emergency but it was too late.”

He, however, commended  some Northern governors for the steps they took to forestall reprisal, saying their actions saved lives and preserved the unity of the country.

“President Muhammadu Buhari, had warned those going contrary to the law of the land. I blame the governors of the South- East. They were over-relaxed.

“I am not against somebody who comes out to air his feelings. In as much as it is within the ambit of the law, when somebody tries to bring in certain things that the law does not permit, it is sad,” he said.

On the issue of the South-East being marginalised, he argued that the Peoples Democratic Party’s 16 years’ rule did not make any progress in terms of addressing marginalisation, nor bringing any meaningful development to the region.

He advised the people of the South-East to support the current administration in their own interest and approach President Buhari “with maturity and not by going contrary to the constitution.”