IPOB Decries “One Nigeria” as El-Rufai’s Son Questions National Unity

Abuja, Nigeria, (September 13, 2025)

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has criticized what it calls the “hypocrisy and double standards” of the Nigerian state after Bashir El-Rufai, son of former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai, reportedly declared that he does not believe in the idea of “One Nigeria.”

In a statement released on Friday, IPOB spokesperson Emma Powerful said the remarks expose deep contradictions in the country’s political framework, contrasting the freedom El-Rufai’s son enjoys with the detention of IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who remains in custody for advocating regional autonomy.

IPOB argues that Nigeria’s current political and judicial systems treat different ethnic groups unequally. The group pointed to the Supreme Court’s reversal of a Court of Appeal ruling that once cleared Kanu, describing the decision as evidence of bias. “This is not justice; it is tribal prejudice dressed up as law,” the statement reads, stating that the same comments from a Fulani figure draw no legal repercussions while Kanu faces terrorism charges for similar views.

The pro-Biafra movement further recalled that Nigeria’s regions experienced economic vitality under a more federal structure before centralization took hold, a change IPOB blames on both colonial interference and local political actors. Declaring Nigeria “a failed project built on injustice,” IPOB reiterated its call for self-determination, insisting that the continued detention of Kanu—while northern figures speak freely against national unity—shows that the concept of a single Nigerian nation has lost legitimacy.

ONE NIGERIA IS A FRAUD: EL-RUFAI’S SON DECLARES WHAT MAZI NNAMDI KANU IS JAILED FOR TRUTH.

The attention of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the leadership of our indefatigable leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been drawn to the encouraging and revealing statement credited to the son of former Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, boldly declaring that he does not believe in “One Nigeria.”

Ordinarily, IPOB would not waste its time on the deliberations of these individuals that claim exclusive ownership of Nigeria. But this open rejection of “One Nigeria” by El-Rufai’s son exposes in the clearest terms the monumental hypocrisy and double standard that define Nigeria.

When Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a proud Biafran son of Igbo extraction, called for regional autonomy, he was kidnapped in Kenya, tortured, and illegally renditioned to Nigeria. He has since been held in DSS detention, facing trumped-up charges of terrorism.

But today, a Fulani man, the son of one of the architects of Nigeria’s present crisis, can openly declare the same belief—that “One Nigeria” is a lie—without fear of arrest, abduction, or prosecution. This is the clearest evidence yet that Nigeria is nothing but one law for the Fulani and another law for the Igbo.

Between 1955 and 1966, Nigeria’s regions experienced unprecedented economic growth under true federalism and regional autonomy before the British neo-colonialists, through their proxies in Nigeria, intervened to destroy it. Northern Nigeria was the hub of manufacturing in Nigeria with almost full employment, no banditry, no insecurity. Each region thrived through healthy competition—an arrangement destroyed by the very people now pretending to defend “One Nigeria.” Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has only demanded a return to justice, fairness, and economic dignity. For that, he is persecuted, while El-Rufai’s son is applauded.

Judicial Complicity

The same ethnic bias runs deep in Nigeria’s judiciary. Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba of the Supreme Court shamelessly overturned an unimpeachable Court of Appeal discharge and acquittal of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, against the letter of the Constitution, simply because Kanu is Igbo. This is not justice; it is tribal prejudice dressed up as law.

If Nigeria were a fair country, the DSS and Attorney General would have by now proscribed El-Rufai’s son, branded him a terrorist, and thrown him into solitary confinement. But because he is Fulani, the state machinery looks the other way.

This is why IPOB insists that Nigeria is irredeemable. The hypocrisy of “One Nigeria” has collapsed under its own contradictions. You cannot jail Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for saying the same thing El-Rufai’s son is free to shout from the rooftops.

We declare again: One Nigeria is a fraud. The continued persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu while protecting those who make the same calls in the North and West proves beyond doubt that Nigeria is a failed project built on injustice and selective persecution.

The world must take note: If justice cannot be equal in Nigeria, then Nigeria has no right to exist as “One.”

COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL

SPOKESPERSON/MEDIA AND PUBLICITY SECRETARY FOR IPOB.