Atiku is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections.
A pro-Atiku Abubakar group, South East Grand Cohesion Alliance for Atiku has said that President Buhari led administration must face International Criminal Court (ICC) for the genocide committed with the Python Dance military operations conducted in South-east Nigeria.
Atiku is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections.
According to Kenneth Uzumaki Austin, the leader of the group, President Muhammadu Buhari should face the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the alleged genocide committed with the Python Dance military operations conducted in the South-east.
Austin who made this known in a statement on Saturday urged the South-east to accept the olive branch offered to the region by Atiku and some reliable Northern leaders.
Austin said the call became necessary because the Labour Party candidate Peter Obi “lacks the necessary wherewithal to win the elections”.
Austin assured that he was privy to a meeting held in the residence of a retired Military General and onetime Minister of Defence in Abuja, during which part of the deal was concluded and ratified.
According to Austin who spoke on the sidelines of a press conference by the group in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, part of the agreements was that Atiku, if elected president, shall within the first 100 days in office, ensure that the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, is released unconditionally.
The second is that Atiku has promised to work to actualise the dream of an Igbo Presidency by ensuring he hands over to an Igbo successor, pointing to Atiku’s repeated promises to be a “stepping stone” to Igbo presidency.
"One of these affirmations was made by Atiku early this week on Tuesday during the party’s presidential campaign rally in Enugu,” he said.
According to Austin, this is the third time the PDP candidate would make the promise to Igbo people in the South-east. Atiku first made the promise in September during a zonal conference of the PDP in Enugu.
It was noted that the PDP candidate also made the same promise during his campaign flag-off for the South-east region in Awka, Anambra State, in December.
Speaking during the rally in Enugu on Tuesday, the former vice-president said he still stood by his words.
Third, he said, is the undertaking by Atiku to cooperate fully in the ongoing International Criminal Court investigation and ensure prompt prosecution of the outgoing President Buhari and top officials of his administration like the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief of Army Staff, and GOC 82nd Division of the Nigerian Army, for the alleged genocide committed during the Python Dance military operations conducted in the South-east.
"Already the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague is investigating the September 2017 invasion of a community in Abia State by soldiers of the Nigerian Army during a military exercise code-named Operation Python Dance 2 (Egwu Eke Abuo) which would only get the backing and cooperation of government which Atiku has promised.
"In the letter obtained with reference number OTP-CR-413/17 dated March 20, 2018, published by the Sun is the second response by the court to the petitioner, it was confirmed that the military invasion and deaths recorded were already under preliminary examination by the Office of the Prosecutor.
"Part of the letter signed by Mark Dillon, head of the information and evidence unit at the Office of the Prosecutor, read: ‘Accordingly, your communication will be analysed in this context, with the assistance of other related communications and other available information,’” Austin said.
Austin made a reference to a meeting between the Northern Elders Forum and South-east leaders where the NEF chairman, Ango Abdullahi, presented all the terms agreed upon.
He noted that Abdullahi, in an interview with the Tribune of February 12, 2023, confirmed this meeting, saying, “NEF is still discussing with other stakeholders from other parts of the country who are interested in the elections. Even today [Thursday], we are having a meeting with the representatives of the Ohanaeze in Abuja.”
"NEF and Ohanaeze are meeting right now and we don’t know the outcome of their discussion yet," Austin further quoted Abdullahi as saying to buttress his claims.
He concluded by urging Igbo people not to allow sentiments or discontent to hold them back from coming out to vote massively to secure their future based on the promises made by Atiku and the Northern leaders.
"At least Atiku himself has been bold enough to openly declare his position in favour of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, whereas even our kinsman, Obi could not do that publicly.
"We, the Igbo should key into this agreement reached and sealed by the North and its leaders by taking full advantage of this window of hope by voting massively for Atiku and ensuring their votes count," he said.