According to a recent report by Vanguard, there have been differing responses from politicians on all sides of the aisle to the recent move by governors and National Assembly members in the South-East to approach President Bola Tinubu about the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the imprisoned leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Controversial figure Kanu is viewed as a possible threat to national unity by some, but he is also hailed as a symbol of the Igbo people's desire for self-determination by others. After debating the matter during their Tuesday meeting in Enugu, the South-East Governors' Forum decided to petition President Tinubu to order Kanu's release. Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, the Forum's chairman, formally informed the media of this decision.
Proponents of the action, such as the group Ikoro Ndigbo, the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association Olisa Agbakoba, and the leading Igbo sociocultural organization Ohanaeze Ndigbo, have hailed the governors' decision as a step in the right direction toward ending the standoff over Kanu's arrest.
They see this endeavor as a vital chance to resolve the current political impasse. The Northern Elders Forum spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, on the other hand, has vehemently condemned the plan. According to Suleiman, Kanu's release would undermine the country's criminal justice system and would even incite separatist movements.
Furthermore, some detractors have called the governors' action "belated," contending that considering the gravity of Kanu's arrest, such steps ought to have been taken sooner. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party (LP) candidate Mr. Peter Obi have been among the prominent figures who have consistently called for Kanu's release. The issue of Kanu's prolonged incarceration has long been a source of conflict and concern in the South-East region.
Notably, 15 senators from the area, led by former deputy governor of Abia State Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, requested a meeting with Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the attorney general of the Federation, in Abuja, barely one day after the governors' conference in the South-East.
They were trying hard to get President Tinubu to think about releasing Kanu, and this meeting was one of their strategies. The series of incidents highlights the wide range of viewpoints and intense political involvement surrounding the question of Nnamdi Kanu's imprisonment and eventual release.