Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), the apex socio-political youth group in the South East geopolitical zone, has berated Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB)/Biafran Independent Movement (BIM) Leader, Raph Uwazuruike, over his reported endorsement of Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, for president in 2023.
In a statement on Sunday, by its National President, Goodluck Ibem, COSEYL noted that Uwazuruike, as the founder of BIM, a group agitating for the sovereign state of Biafra, has no correlation between his group, the Nigerian state and the institution of the youths.
Ibem said Uwazurike lacked the authority to speak on behalf of the youths and described his purported endorsement of Governor Bello as purely his (Uwazurike’s) personal opinion.
The group advised Uwazuruike to continue with his Biafran movement struggle and leave the business and politics of the Nigerian state alone, noting that he should know that he cannot serve two masters at the same time.
“For Uwazuruike to be championing for a Biafran state and be talking about who should become the Nigerian president amounts to speaking from both sides of the mouth.
“We want governor of Kogi State to know that Uwazuruike lacks the authority to speak for the South East youths. The youths know their leaders and Uwazuruike is not one of them. If Uwazuruike wants to endorse Governor Bello for president, he should have used his group, BIM, and not youths who he has nothing in common with,” COSEYL said.
The group noted that though Governor Bello has the constitutional right to contest the office of the president in the 2023 general election, the current mood and political calculations of the nation favours the South East to produce the next president.
“We call on Uwazuruike to concentrate on his BIM and desist from making political statement on who becomes the next president using the youths as a platform. We state that 2023 is the turn of the people of South East geopolitical zone to produce the next president and it is not negotiable,” the group said.
