January 18, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s three-year civil war of the late 1960s and the persistence of secessionist groups in the south-east, which has continued to fuel sentiments in the country’s political affairs, as well as the struggle to achieve a president of Igbo extraction, has prompted veteran Nollywood actor, Kanayo O Kanayo, to give his two cents on the upcoming election.
The 60-year-old has charged the Igbo people outside the southeast region of Nigeria to vote in their respective places of residence.
In a video shared via Instagram on Tuesday, the ace actor also urged people of Igbo extraction to ignore any rumour that suggests they should leave their locations of residence for safety reasons pending when the election season is over.
During elections, citizens are only allowed to vote in the state where they’re registered to do so, often being their location of residence.
In the post, Kanayo claimed that rumours are spreading about safety and security in what he described as a deliberate ploy to cut down the number of available voters who are of Igbo descent.
He also alleged that the rumours are geared towards reducing the number of Igbo people available to vote in the February 2023 presidential election by making them exit their respective states for the east for safety reasons.
“I make this post as a member of the presidential campaign council of the Labour Party but target it at Igbos. We have to preach to the Igbos who reside outside the southeast to stay put wherever they reside.
“All these rumours of war and attacks are geared towards putting fear into the Igbos to leave where they are and that’s not going to work. They want them to flee to the east and return after the elections.
“This video is to speak boldness into our southeast brothers and sisters to make them understand that he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.
“Do not try to make any attempt to stay out of where you reside because that’s a design to reduce our numbers. We don’t have to die many times before our death. Only a fool does.”
Kanayo also quoted some figures he attributed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which he said demonstrates that the voters’ strength of the Igbos can increase the chances of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), at the election.
“It is very critical, this election, that we stay put wherever we are. That’s the only way 25% of votes in the 36 states of the federation can be guaranteed, for a man of the southeast east extraction who has risen to a national movement. That we must accept”, he added.
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