81- year-old Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, the oldest lawmaker in the country and chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, in a recent interviewdeclared that invincible forces are fuelling the South East crisiswhile speaking about the quest of the South East geopolitical zone to produce the next president, zoning and other national issues.

He said contrary to assertions that he said anything controversial onthe activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) during an interview, hedidn’t say anything controversial, adding that “the truth of the matter is that nobody will be forced to remain in Nigeria, but the way to exit is not by killing innocent people. What they should do is to negotiate for their exit.

“Several countries have done it without killing people or making governance almost impossible. I said if they chose to go the same route of the civil war, of course the Nigerian government will have no choice but to go the same way the war was fought. Most of the people making comments misquoted me. They did not watch the interview. They were just imagining things. I have been around since independence and have seen the country’s journey to nationhood. So I must tell them the truth,” he said.

Speakingonthe geo-political zone that should produce President Buhari’s successor, he said “I don’t care which zone produces the next president. All I want is for Nigeriato find a good person, irrespective of where the person comes from and under whichever party”

He added that he doesn’t thinkPresident Buhari’s visit to Imo State would douse the tension in the South-East as “the streets of Awka were empty because the IPOB issued a directive that no one should come out throughout the president’s visit. It was only in Imo that people were free to go out, and that was possible because there was heavy security presence.”

He however added thatthe IPOB has influence only on the “Igbo because even the reasonable ones among them are scared. That does not mean they have effective control,” adding thatIgbo leaders are doing enough to address the IPOB issue.

“They are not. The IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is incarcerated. But I believe there are some invincible forces within the Igbo land who are fueling this crisis, and probably, even Kanu was acting based on their instructions. But the State Security Service should uncover the brains behind this. Since Kanu is in detention, he does not make statements, yet his organisation is still alive. Who are those behind it?” he stated.

(Story adapted from Daily Trust)