Don’t allow Igboland turn to theater of war, Chekwas Okorie urges South East Governors

The Governors of the South East geo-political zone of the country have been called upon to ensure that the zone does not become “a war zone” in the buildup to the 2027 general elections, with a warning that they will be held accountable if anarchy reigns.

The call was made by Chief Chekwas Okorie, Chairman, Igbo Agenda Dialogue (IAD), in a statement that also noted that some other parts of the country, especially the North East and North West zones are presently witnessing serious security issues.

Chief Okorie, who also slammed an Islamic cleric, Sheik Sani Yahaya Jingir, for a recent “inciting outburst,” noted that the government has failed to call the cleric to order, stressing that “government seems highly selective in its interventions, if any.”

Full text of Chief Okorie’s statement reads:

SOUTHEAST GOVERNORS MUST NOT ALLOW THE ZONE TURN TO A THEATER OF WAR.

A dangerous trend has reared its ugly head in the South East geopolitical zone recently. The desperate struggle for political power through conquest instead of the ballot box according to the tenets of democracy and the laws of Nigeria in the build-up to the 2027 general elections is raging with ferocious speed in Igboland.
I wish to recall that on the 12th of March 2026, I released an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which l captioned, “Halt the brewing anarchy in Nigeria”. In that letter, I drew the attention of the president to events in Nigeria, especially by state and non-state actors, that could cause the breakdown of law and order. I appealed to President Tinubu to take decisive steps to halt the trend. Obviously, my patriotic intervention did not seem to make any impression on the president.
It was not long ago that an Islamic cleric called Sheik Sani Yahaya Jingir, in a most arrogant and inciting outburst in a public event in Kano, declared that all Nigerians who did not want the Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket of President Tinubu and his vice president should leave the country. He claimed that Muslims owned Nigeria. This hate speech was not only outrageous but unprovoked as the president and vice president were already in the last lap of their four-year tenure without any protest from any part of the country as a result of their faith.
Neither the federal government nor any of its security agencies publicly condemned Sheik Jingir’s obviously subversive open declaration. Based on what appeared as government acquiescence to the irresponsibility of Sheik Jingir, more and more actors in the political space have become emboldened to go haywire. The list is long. The government seems highly selective in its interventions, if any.
Now, this ugly trend is beginning to envelope the entire South East. It is no longer safe for members of the opposition parties to hold public gatherings or rallies anywhere in the geopolitical zone without being attacked by heavily armed thugs. These attacks last for hours, resulting in severe injuries and loss of lives. In most of these incidents, the security agencies appear helpless. No arrests are ever recorded, at least to be able to trace their sponsors.
Most South East governments have imposed outrageous fees for campaign billboards running into hundreds of millions of naira for a single billboard. This is the reason billboards are hardly visible across the South East. Members of the opposition parties have also responded by pulling down the billboards of the ruling parties wherever they appeared. This is a recipe for anarchy.
I call on Governor Hope Uzodimma, the governor of Imo State and the Chairman of the South East Governors Forum, to convene an emergency and extraordinary meeting of the South East Governors as a matter of utmost urgency to nip in the bud the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Igboland.
No matter how the Federal Government of Nigeria may downplay the situation in the North, the painful truth is that wars are raging in the North West and North East sectors. In spite of the assistance of the United States of America, the wars have not abetted.
Our present South East governors will be held accountable if Igboland becomes another war zone. Fifty-six years after the end of the fratricidal war in the former Eastern Region, the scars and destruction of that war are still festering and unaddressed.
The colonial army could not conquer Ndigbo. Ndigbo survived the war of annihilation waged against us.
Igbo votes for the 2027 elections can never be obtained by conquest.
Ndigbo must remain vigilant and defend their franchise as we are known to do from creation.
Igbo kwenu!!!