The Directorate of State (DoS) of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has announced the indefinite suspension of the Office of the Leader of IPOB and the position of Director of Radio Biafra, both of which were previously occupied by Nnamdi Kanu.
The decision, according to the group, will remain in effect pending further notice.
The decision was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by Chikadibia Edoziem, head of the DOS, IPOB’s highest decision-making body, adding that it is in a bid to reposition the organisation and strengthen its operations.
In a statement, the Directorate said the move forms part of ongoing administrative and organizational measures within the separatist movement. The group did not immediately provide detailed reasons for the suspension but indicated that further information would be communicated at an appropriate time.
Meanwhile, IPOB spokesperson Emma Powerful, has dismissed the purported suspension and expulsion of Kanu by the faction led by Chika Edoziem, describing the move as unconstitutional, null and void, and an exercise in futility by officials whose tenure had already been terminated.
Powerful, in a statement released on Saturday, said Edoziem and members of the dissolved third administration of the Directorate of State (DOS) lacked the authority to take any action against Kanu, having been removed from office before issuing the declaration.
According to him, Kanu, acting under powers vested in him by the movement’s Code of Conduct, recently dissolved the third DOS administration headed by Edoziem and inaugurated a new leadership structure, the fourth DOS administration, under the leadership of Chris Nwaọgụ.
The group argued that any action taken by Edoziem and his associates after the dissolution of their administration was invalid because they no longer held any recognised office within the organisation.
“No person can derive authority from an office that has already ceased to exist,” the statement said.
IPOB maintained that under its governing laws, only the office of the Supreme Leader has the authority to appoint, suspend, dismiss or dissolve principal officers and administrative structures within the organisation.
(Ripples)
