CHANCELLOR of the Eastern Mandate Union, EMU, Dr Arthur Nwankwo, has dissociated himself from the Reformed Indigenous People of Biafra, RE-IPOB, a breakaway faction of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB and his nomination as one of old Eastern Region eminent persons to negotiate with the Federal Government on Biafra. In a four-paragraph statement, Nwankwo, who restated his clamour for the restructuring of the country, said the association of his name to RE-IPOB is scandalous and unaccpetable. Reacting to media reports in which RE-IPOB mentioned him as one of the eminent Igbo personalities to negotiate with the Federal Government, he said: ”The statement credited to an amorphous breakaway group from the IPOB called RE-IPOB, gave the impression that I am in league with it. I consider the association of my name to this type of self-serving group absolutely scandalous, ridiculous and totally unacceptable. I have nothing whatsoever to do with the group or any other group for that matter. ”My position on the state of Nigeria is not ambiguous. I have relentlessly canvassed a thorough-going restructuring of this country; where all the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria would come to a round table to negotiate their existence. ”The Igbo nation has not mandated any person or group to negotiate for it. I therefore dissociate myself completely from RE-IPOB and demand an immediate retraction of my name from their press release to avoid unpleasant consequences.”
