Niger Delta militants give Buhari and APC conditions that must be met for elections to hold in the south-south

NIGER Delta militants have presented President Muhammadu Buhari with a list of conditions that must be met for there to be peaceful elections in the south-south next month including a demand that the chief judge of Nigeria be left in place.

On February 16, Nigeria goes to the polls to elect a president, with President Buhari seeking a second term as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate. His main challenger will be former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is standing at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate  in what promises to be a close race.

Earlier today, the 21st Century Youths of Niger Delta gave President Buhari and the APC a list of demands that included allowing permanent voter’s cards (PVCs) and not guns being what counts in the Niger Delta next month. They also asked the president to be wary of his alleged impending plot to take into custody and replace the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen.

According to the militant group, if these conditions are not met, the consequences will be very terrible for the nation to stomach. Their leader, the self-styled General Izon Ebi, warned that militants would not only stop the flow of oil but cut all the pipes beyond repair if the conditions were breached.

He added: “We, therefore, want to summarise that the people of the Niger Delta want a peaceful election where their voter’s cards will speak for them, not guns. We conclude by sounding it loud that the CJN cannot be unlawfully removed from office and no amount of militarisation or intimidation will cow the Niger Delta people into submission and allow injustice to be meted out on our distinguished leaders and personalities anymore.

“The current alarm raised by the Coalition of United Political Parties of an impending plot to arrest the CJN and replace him with a northerner is a very serious matter that the consequences will be so grievous for the Nigerian nation to bear. The 21st Century Youths of the Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience cannot comprehend the philosophy that makes us inferior and second-class citizens in the abundance of our God-given resources in the Niger Delta, which sustain the Nigerian nation.

“There is no amount of intimidation that will force the Niger Delta people to join or support the APC for sins to be forgiven. Government cannot force us to support it when it does not take responsibility for its actions.”