MASSOB Warns Tinubu Against Relying on ‘Self-Proclaimed Igbo Leaders’ for Southeast Support

The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has issued a strong warning to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging him not to rely on recent endorsements by select Southeast political elites ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The group, in a statement signed by its leader Comrade Uchenna Madu, criticized political figures such as Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo and Minister of Works David Umahi, who have publicly declared that the Southeast region will support Tinubu’s second-term bid.

Governor Soludo had earlier claimed that his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), had already adopted Tinubu as its candidate for 2027. Similarly, Umahi asserted that the Igbo people (Ndigbo) would back the president.

MASSOB, however, dismissed these endorsements as unrepresentative of grassroots sentiments in the region.

“Those persons do not reflect the will of the Igbo people,” the statement read. “Their influence will not translate into actual voter support.”

The group called on President Tinubu to engage with the real concerns of Southeast citizens, rather than place faith in elite political endorsements that lack popular legitimacy.

“There is an ongoing dialogue about political strategy in the Southeast, and MASSOB is reminding President Bola Tinubu that our people will not support his 2027 re-election bid,” the statement continued. “His administration has brought pain, marginalization, and neglect to the region.”

MASSOB also condemned Governor Soludo, describing his recent praise of Tinubu during the president’s visit to Anambra as “blatant arrogance.”

“Your desperation to secure a second term as governor, and your pledge of Anambra’s support to President Tinubu, is a betrayal of the aspirations of Anambra people and the Biafra movement,” MASSOB charged.

The group accused Soludo of erasing the legacy of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the revered Biafran leader and founding father of APGA, from the party’s identity and Anambra's political culture.

MASSOB emphasized that true electoral decisions will lie with the masses, not individual political elites.

“The collective voice of the people—not the perspectives of individual leaders—will determine who the Southeast supports in 2027,” the group declared.

MASSOB concluded by urging all presidential aspirants to directly engage with the electorate, understand their grievances, and genuinely address the long-standing calls for equity, recognition, and inclusion in national governance.