Igbo leaders seek new constitution before 2019 general election

The Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT) has called on President Mohammadu Buhari to immediately set up a constitute Assembly that will chart a new constitution for the country before the 2019 general elections.

In a communiqué released after their meeting in Enugu yesterday, the group said the call became necessary following the alleged general rejection of the 1999 constitution, stressing that the observed flaws from the constitution would continue to affect election outcomes if not checked.

The group deplored the rate of killings in the country, saying that it has assumed genocidal proportions and placed the country as a “failed state,” and called on the federal government to urgently address the situation before the next elections.

It expressed concern that the administration of the country has made the fight against corruption its cardinal programme, regretting however, that it has been made a “selective prosecution of political opponents” from evidence available to it.

“The Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT) feels that the solution to corruption is to resolve political corruption which includes nepotism, appointment on basis of religious faith, protection of loyalists who are known to be manifestly corrupt, and expenditure of public funds without budgeting”, the statement said.

On the economy, the leaders lamented that the dysfunctional state of the system has relegated the country into poverty.

They recommended that steps should be taken to set up food production and animal husbandry like the type promoted by late Premier, Mike Okpara.

The Igbo leaders called for the immediate de-proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

They noted that members of the organisation do not carry arms but engages in protests, a development they added was within their legitimate rights.

It noted that other organisations such as herdsmen who carry arms have not been proscribed.

They also acknowledged the right of Nigerians to hold to their political beliefs and advised Igbo politicians to appreciate and protect the interest of their constituencies and work together irrespective of political affiliations for the survival of Igbo.