Peter Obi supporters are IPOB members, says Miyetti Allah
By Tajudeen Oluyomi
Labour Party Presidential aspirant Mr Peter Obi derives his support from advocates of Biafra, Miyetti Allah has said.
He said “If you look at the trend of the leading aspirants – take Peter Obi, for instance, who is from the South-East, his supporters are predominantly from the South-East.”
According to the Miyetti Allah leader Obi relies on members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra,(IPOB) as his foundation.
He said “If you go to his social media supporters, they were hitherto the promoters of the Indigenous People of Biafra.”
He said all the Nnamdi Kanu supporters “have switched to supporting Peter Obi. So, what do you make of that? So, it is not something that is hidden. It is all over. I am not being tribalistic or profiling a candidate. Every candidate has a support base. The support base of Rabiu Kwankwaso is basically from Kano, and the All Progressives Congress’ candidate, Bola Tinubu, will draw most of his supporters from the South-West expectedly, knowing the nature of Nigeria’s policy.”
Speaking further in the interview with The Punch he said “I think we should be conscious of the utterances and type of campaigns some of the supporters of these aspirants are doing. Some of these presidential aspirants might end up being leaders of rebellions because of the way their supporters are behaving. The Independent National Electoral Commission has a lot of work to do.”
When asked about reports that link his supporters to acts of violence he said “I represent an organisation of Fulani pastoralists and I can only speak on behalf of members of my organisation. Miyetti Allah has membership, and the membership does not include every Fulani man. We have Fulani who are herders and others that are not. I speak strictly for members of my organisation who have suffered injustices in the country recently.”
He said further “They have been stereotyped as criminals and are constantly being killed. Their means of livelihood have been destroyed in the eastern part of the country where there are activities of Biafran agitators. About a week or so, we all saw where they shot cattle and even the herders just because they were perceived as Fulani. Any other person who has an opinion can air it. As far as the pastoralists that I represent are concerned, we are looking for justice in this country.”