Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the release of Nnamdi Kanu was not on the table when he met with governors of the south-east region on Tuesday.

Governors under the aegis of the South-East Governors’ Forum resolved to meet with President Bola Tinubu on Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Hope Uzodimma, Governor of Imo and chairman of the forum, listed a planned “engagement” with the Federal Government on Kanu as one of the resolutions reached at the Enugu meeting.

Obasanjo who had also paid a solidarity visit to the South-East Governors Forum on the day, in a statement issued through Kehinde Akinyemi, his special assistant on media affairs, said the meeting he held with the governors revolved around “regional development issues”.

“The regional development issues include that of security and infrastructure. Others were economic and cooperative/collaboration, which was meant to complement the national economic development agenda,” the statement reads.

“The meeting with them was at my invitation and of Chief Emeka Anyaoku before their summit begins. The issue of Nnamdi Kanu was not on the agenda and was not discussed in my presence,” Obasanjo was quoted as saying.

Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his extradition to Nigeria in 2021. He is standing trial on charges bordering on treasonable felony and was denied bail in May.

Meanwhile, Senators from the south-east geopolitical region held a closed-door meeting with Lateef Fagbemi, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, over the release of Nnamdi Kanu.

The meeting held barely hours after governors from the south-east region resolved to meet President Bola Tinubu over the release of Kanu.

Led by Enyinnaya Abaribe, senator representing Abia south senatorial district, the lawmakers said Kanu’s release is key to reviving the economy of the south-east.

According to Channels TV, the senators’ letter was handed to Fagbemi for onward transmission to “the presidency”.

Abaribe said the “peaceful demand of the detained IPOB leader had been hijacked by hoodlums and hardened criminals, leading to wanton killings of innocent people, including security operatives”.

He lamented that the socio-economic life of the region has been negatively impacted by Kanu’s incarceration.