The Biafra Nations Youth League (BNYL) has described the agitation for South-South Presidency in 2023 as baseless.

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) through its National Publicity Secretary, Sara Igbe, had on Monday, said the Presidency should be zoned to the South-South while the South-East continues to agitate for Biafra.

However, while addressing newsmen in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the Chief Press Secretary of BNYL, Comrade Richard Odung, lambasted the PANDEF to have made such claims that the South-East prefers Biafra while the South-South wants 2023 Presidency.

"It I laughable for a reasonable elder to reason too low, when has the Biafra that Akwa Ibom fought for, the Biafra that Cross River fought for, or the Biafra that many Rivers people fought for become a South-East project.

"Does he know that it was the Ibibio that were in full control of the Eastern Government and then the Biafran Republic? Apart from Ojukwu the rest top figures before and during the war were my people. We were in charge of Radio Biafra, we were in charge of the Biafra Military as Chief of General Staff, the Eastern and Biafra Government Secretary was an Ibibio man, others were Cross Riverians. 98percent of our war veterans are former Biafran soldiers," he said.

Odung claimed that the PANDEF does not have the mandate of the entire tribes in the South-South to decide on what the people want.

“I see PANDEF as Edwin Clerk creation, it does not have our mandate, how many Cross Riverians are in the forum, how many Ibibio apart from Obong Attah whom he lobbied to join him to demand for oil well in Abuja, how many Igbo speaking people of Rivers and Delta State are in PANDEF, how many Ogoni and Andoni are there?

“To me, I see an Ijaw interest group speaking for a multiethnic region. If that is so, the Ibibio is the most affected during the war and we deserve that Presidency, because we suffered just as the Igbos suffered, we lost everything, we were also giving 20 pounds along with the Igbo to start life afresh, we do not want anybody who comes to pretend to speak for us in other to attract sympathy and bring his tribe man as Presidential candidate.”

The group also revealed that it would be holding a National Convention at Ikom LGA of Cross River State, every 12 of april to mark their resolution known as “Ekukunela Declaration,” a declaration made in the town of Ekukunela, in Ofutop 1, Ikom LGA, Cross River State on April 12, 2016.

The BNYL spokesman said that the declaration which contains their existing cooperation with the Southern Cameroons, the British conspiracy, the splitting of some Eastern tribe into Nigeria and Cameroon, the nemesis of Biafran war over Bakassi Peninsula and the their mission statement of policy is a strong resolution of the group, he said marking such historic declaration every year will keep the memories fresh in the minds of the members and supporters.

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