The Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, has said his state will never be part of the agitation for the sovereign nation of Biafra.
The agitation for a sovereign state of Biafra has been promoted by several groups in the South-East, prominent among them is the Indigenous People of Biafra led by the detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
IPOB has said several times that successive governments in Nigeria continually discriminate against the people of the region, hence, the agitation for self-determination, which has put enmity between the group and President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
Umahi recently declared his bid to run for the 2023 presidency and to success Buhari.
The governor on Thursday again countered IPOB saying that the state was better in a fair and equitable Nigeria, reiterating that “if anybody tells you about Biafra, Ebonyi State will never be part of Biafra.”
Umahi stated this at the Ecumenical Centre, Abakaliki, during a reception organised for him after declaring his presidential bid, in Abuja.
According to the governor, “Let nobody be afraid of the Presidency of an Igbo man. The Igbo man is a builder and not a destroyer. There is no Igbo man that will be the President of this country and would like to divide or destroy it because we have investments everywhere.
“First and foremost, I have been saying it. If anybody tells you about Biafra, Ebonyi State will never be part of Biafra. We are not Biafra.
“We were so oppressed and now we are finding our feet and you want us to go back. We will not. We will not. We are better in a fair and equitable Nigeria. And we are not going anywhere.
“We are not going anywhere. We won’t. We will continue to appeal and dialogue to be treated fairly and equitably like other regions of Nigeria.
“Some enemies of the South-East say if we become President, we will divide the country. How will we divide the country? We have investments everywhere.”
