The National President General of the Ohanaeze Youth Council, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, has renewed calls for a referendum on Nigeria’s continued existence as one country.
Igboayaka urged pro-Biafra groups to intensify their campaign following comments attributed to Sheikh Yahaya Jingir.
Igboayaka made the call during a press conference in Owerri on Wednesday while reacting to remarks reportedly made by Jingir in support of the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
According to him, the cleric’s reported comments, which allegedly described Nigeria as a Muslim country, reinforced concerns about religious dominance and the future of Christians and adherents of other faiths.
“Ndigbo has appreciated Sheikh Yahaya Jingir’s revelation,” Igboayaka said, arguing that while Muslims in the North and Southwest could pursue an independent Muslim country, describing Nigeria as a Muslim country was unacceptable because the country is multi-national and multi-religious.
He said Jingir’s position had, in his view, further strengthened Nnamdi Kanu’s call for the restoration of the Republic of Biafra through a referendum.
Igboayaka called on pro-Biafra organisations, including the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Eastern Peoples Congress (EPC), Movement of Biafra in Nigeria (MOBIN), Biafra National League and other groups, to intensify their campaign for a referendum to determine the country’s political future.
He argued that Nigerians who were dissatisfied with the country’s political and religious direction should be allowed to decide whether they wished to remain in the federation.
“Nigeria is a Muslim country and if you don’t want to accept a Muslim-Muslim ticket, you should leave Nigeria because it belongs to us,” he said.
Igboayaka also referred to a New Year message he issued in January 2026, in which he urged Ndigbo to prepare for what he described as their possible exit from Nigeria.
He said Jingir’s reported remarks had reinforced his earlier position that Nigeria was becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile politically and religiously, insisting that a referendum or plebiscite was needed to address the country’s divisions.
The Ohanaeze youth leader also criticised what he described as the Federal Government’s silence over Jingir’s alleged comments, arguing that the absence of an official condemnation suggested tacit approval.
He urged ethnic groups, organisations and individuals who rejected the characterisation of Nigeria as a Muslim country to begin campaigning for a referendum.
According to him, such a process would provide a peaceful and democratic means of addressing the country’s religious and political tensions and, in his words, help prevent further religious killings.
