A pro-Atiku Abubakar group called the South East Grand Cohesion Alliance for Atiku has demanded that President Buhari and his administration be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the alleged genocide committed during the Python Dance military operations conducted in South-east Nigeria.
In a statement released on Saturday, the group’s leader, Kenneth Uzumaki Austin, urged the South-east to accept the olive branch offered to the region by Atiku and some reliable Northern leaders.
According to Austin, the call became necessary because the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, “lacks the necessary wherewithal to win the elections”.
Austin assured that he was privy to a meeting held in the residence of a retired Military General and onetime Minister of Defence in Abuja, during which part of the deal was concluded and ratified.
Austin revealed that one of the agreements was that Atiku, if elected president, would within the first 100 days in office, ensure that the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, is released unconditionally.
The second agreement was that Atiku has promised to work towards an Igbo presidency by ensuring he hands over to an Igbo successor, pointing to Atiku’s repeated promises to be a “stepping stone” to Igbo presidency.
Thirdly, Austin said, is the undertaking by Atiku to cooperate fully in the ongoing International Criminal Court investigation and ensure prompt prosecution of the outgoing President Buhari and top officials of his administration like the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief of Army Staff, and GOC 82nd Division of the Nigerian Army, for the alleged genocide committed during the Python Dance military operations conducted in the South-east.
Austin made reference to a meeting between the Northern Elders Forum and South-east leaders where the NEF chairman, Ango Abdullahi, presented all the terms agreed upon.
He noted that Abdullahi, in an interview with the Tribune of February 12, 2023, confirmed this meeting, saying, “NEF is still discussing with other stakeholders from other parts of the country who are interested in the elections. Even today [Thursday], we are having a meeting with the representatives of the Ohanaeze in Abuja.”
Austin concluded by urging Igbo people not to allow sentiments or discontent to hold them back from coming out to vote massively to secure their future based on the promises made by Atiku and the Northern leaders.
