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2027: Group to hold first Igbo political summit in April, targets 20m voters
The summit likened to the Ahiara Declaration which took place over 56 years ago before the commencement of Nigeria-Biafra Civil War, according to the Convener/ National Chairman of IAD, Chief Chekwas Okorie, will take place in Enugu.
He said that the first ever Igbo Political Charter would be unveiled during the summit.
Okorie, who addressed the press on behalf of the group in Enugu on Wednesday, disclosed that part of the agenda of the non-partisan organisation, is to mount a “robust campaign to persuade every person with the voters card to actively participate in all democratic processes wherever they reside.”
He said: “We resolved to reset the Igbo political engagement in Nigeria by establishing the Igbo Agenda Dialogue, IAD, which was inaugurated on the 27th of August 2025.
“The IAD is a non-partisan socio-political and pro democracy Organization of the Igbo people in Nigeria and the Diaspora. It’s motto is ONE FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE (Madu nwe Oha, Oha nwe Madu).
“The IAD is designed to be the IGBO political grid structured in the form of Nigeria’s electricity grid. Cognizant of the fact that Igbo people have a massive network of associations, unions, professional groups, etc, in Nigeria and in the diaspora.”
Igbo communities existing in all the 196 countries of the world will serve as a central grid to connect Igbo groups, associations and unions globally for effective communication, feedback and coordinated action,” Okorie added.
The IAD leader noted that the organisation was determined to mount “a robust and sustained political education of our people to appreciate and accept that we can restore our relevance and respect in the country’s democratic space without begging anybody to do for us what God has already given us the power to do for ourselves.”
He regretted that during the 2023 general elections, only 11.5 million the Igbo people registered, while actually on 2.2 million voters participated in the Presidential Election with over 9.3 million refusing to participate in the process.
Lamenting the lack of interest by some south-easterners to participate in the electoral process, Okorie said that IAD would mobilise Ndigbo so that in the forthcoming general elections, over 20 million people will register to vote.
“The South East geopolitical zone should return an impressive figure of at least 20 million registered voters before the 2027 general election,” he said.
Okorie, who announced his withdrawal from active partisan politics, said that he is now focused on leading a pro-democracy pressure group, which would reach out to Ndigbo to shun their indifference to participate in the political process going forward.
“We have undertaken to reach out and constructively engage our aggrieved young men and women to persuade them on the benefits of deploying democratic tools to achieve our legitimate objectives and aspirations in Nigeria.”
Okorie who expressed belief that Igbos were marginalised after the civil war by not adhering to the declaration of Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation, known as 3Rs, thereby forcing the people especially the youths to loose confidence while some took to agitation for a separate state from Nigeria.
He noted that the year 2026 will mark about 56 years after the Nigerian Civil War ended in 1970, lamenting that the effects of the conflict are still evident across Igbo land due to the failure to fully implement the Federal Government’s post-war policy of “No Victor, No Vanquished.”
Therefore, as part of efforts to broker peace and reconciliation, Okorie called on President Tinubu to effect the release of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
“We appeal to President Ahmed Tinubu to collaborate with us in this noble and patriotic venture by ordering the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other prisoners of conscience as a new year gesture to the Igbo people,” he appealed.
Fielding questions from journalists, Chief Okorie said that the adoption of President Tinubu for 2027 presidential election by South East governors and some Igbo leaders was a miscalculation, in short he said that they were not thinking properly and were misguided.
“Igbo leaders were not thinking properly by adopting President Tinubu as sole candidate for 2027. Tinubu will not take the governors serious. I have known him, Tinubu too well,” he said saying that a politician of Tinubu’s calibre who is verse in politics will not pay much heed to the avowed adoption.
He said that when the time comes, the people will know who to vote for and called on Ndigbo to come out en masse for the forthcoming voter registration.
The African Democratic Congress has raised the alarm over an alleged plan to arrest its National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State.
The party said it had received what it described as “credible reports” of plans to arrest the former Osun State governor in the days leading to the poll.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, on X on Wednesday, the ADC said it was concerned that the alleged arrest could be aimed at disrupting the party’s election activities.
“Given the pattern of intimidation, harassment and misuse of state institutions that has increasingly characterised the conduct of this government towards the opposition, we cannot afford to dismiss these reports,” Abdullahi said.
Aregbesola, who served as governor of Osun State from 2010 to 2018 and later as Minister of the Interior, is currently the National Secretary of the ADC.
The party said there were established procedures that should be followed if any security agency had lawful reasons to question its national secretary.
“Ogbeni Aregbesola is a former Governor of Osun State, a former Minister of the Federal Republic and the National Secretary of the opposition political party. If any security agency has a lawful reason to invite him, there are established procedures for doing so,” it said.
The ADC argued that arresting Aregbesola on the eve of an election in which the party is participating would raise questions about the motive behind such an action.
“An arrest on the eve of an election in which his party is participating would invite only one reasonable conclusion: that the purpose is to prevent him from leading and coordinating the party’s election activities,” the statement said.
The party consequently put the Federal Government and security agencies on notice, urging them to avoid actions that could undermine the credibility of the election.
“The eyes of Nigerians are on Osun,” Abdullahi said.
“Whatever happens before, during and after Saturday’s election will be judged not by the explanations offered afterwards, but by the actions taken now.”
The ADC also warned the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government against taking any action that could trigger political tension in the state.
“The APC Federal Government must be wary of doing anything that could plunge Osun State into needless crisis,” the party said.
The party further called on the government to respect democratic principles and ensure that political parties are allowed to participate freely in the election.
“Nigeria is still a democracy, and the government would do well to remember that before Saturday,” Abdullahi said.
The Niger State Police Command has confirmed the recovery of nine dead bodies on the Wawa-Lumma road in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger.
The victims were suspected to have been killed by bandits while travelling on the road.
The Spokesperson for the Niger Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Minna.
He said that a team of police and military was dispatched and evacuated the bodies after information was received on Tuesday.
He said clearance operations had been intensified with a view to securing the area from any security threat.
“Police and military tactical teams were mobilised to the scene; the bodies recovered, while clearance operation was intensified to secure the area,” he said.
NAN
Nigerian streamer, Peller has dragged his parents for attending his wedding ceremony with their partners.
Peller had his white wedding, which was attended by many dignitaries over the weekend.
Peller’s parents, who have separated from each other, attended the ceremony with their respective partners.
Expressing his frustration over the development, the TikTok streamer, in a video on Wednesday, revealed that he had confronted his parents for turning his wedding into a party despite his earlier warning.
“I’m tired, I’m tired of all these things. I changed it for them oo, no be small.
“Because I told them to invite just a few people, but my mummy dey carry her own boyfriend come, my daddy carry his own girlfriend come.
“All of them just turned my wedding to party. Polygamy is very hard, I’m from a polygamous family”, he said. (sic)
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