Senior Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, has said the demand for a referendum on the state of Biafra is a constitutional impossibility.According to the presidential aide, Biafra ended on the January 15, 1970 and the agitators are only wasting their time. He was reacting to calls for a referendum by Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
Bearing his mind on the issue of restructuring, he noted that it would not solve the myriad of problems confronting the nation.
“The demand for a referendum with regards to Biafra is a constitutional impossibility. It is a legal and political impossibility. There is no provision in the constitution of the country or any other law that provides for a part of the country to break away. It is a nonsensical demand. Biafra ended on the January 15, 1970. I think the agitators are just expressing their rights to freedom of expression,” he said.
When reminded that even though it is not in the country’s constitution, the issue of referendum has become an international legal instrument for self-determination groups to realise their dream.
Obono-obla replied “The international law does not take precedence over the Nigerian constitution. If you want to ratify any treaty or international convention, the National Assembly has to approve it. You cannot begin to use the international law to deal with municipal, local and national issues. Let them stop wasting their time. There is nothing like that. The agitators are just wasting their time and that is why I am saying that they are just expressing their right to the freedom of expression.”
He also said if Nnamdi Kanu has flouted his bail conditions and the law would deal with him.
