The All Igbo Youth Forum (ALYF) has threatened to boycott the 2027 general election unless the federal government releases Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Kanu is currently standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering on treasonable felony, preferred against him by the federal government.
The IPOB leader has been in detention since June 2021 after he was extradited from Kenya, while there have been calls for the federal government to discontinue the case and release him.
National president of the forum, Chinedu Obilor said the group had suspended its planned protest after a meeting with Benjamin Kalu, deputy speaker of the house of representatives.
Obilor said Kalu assured the forum that discussions are ongoing with President Bola Tinubu regarding Kanu’s release.
“We believe the president will listen to the cry of Ndigbo and release Kanu,” he said.
“They cannot leave Nnamdi Kanu and be talking of 2027. Kalu must take our demand to the president urgently.
“If they fail, we will march 10 million strong to Abuja and dare them to jail us all; if they feel they will use Nnamdi Kanu to do politics, we will not agree.
“We’ll mobilise 10 million Igbo youths to march and tell the government we won’t vote if Kanu is not released.”
Obilor said the forum would give Kalu two months to reach Tinubu while criticising Kanu’s detention despite “freedom granted” to other agitators and terrorists.
He also decried the exclusion of the Igbo from recent political appointments, describing it as “unacceptable.”
The forum president also reacted to the northern political interests ahead of the 2027 presidential race, warning that it would be unjust for power to return to the region.
He noted that the south supported the north for eight years under the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, insisting that power must remain in the south for another term.
Obilor also accused some Igbo leaders of undermining Kanu and misleading the president.
“How can we say we’re one Nigeria when Igbo people are always excluded? Any coalition that won’t cede the ticket to the south will not fly,” he said.
“Some of them (Igbo leaders) are behind Kanu’s plight, and they are deceiving the president.”
Obilor asked Tinubu to listen to the voices of Igbo youths rather than the elite in the south-east.
He added that many of those advising the president do not have grassroots influence.
On July 5, David Umahi, minister of works, said the release of the detained IPOB leader is not a precondition for the south-east zone to support Tinubu in 2027.
Umahi said Tinubu is not responsible for the detention of Kanu, adding that the IPOB leader would be released through divine grace and dialogue.
The minister added that the call for Kanu’s release should not be premised on politics or undue pressure.
Umahi also dismissed the allegations that Tinubu is sidelining the south-east in federal appointments and infrastructural development.
