Kanu's family accuses Tinubu of reneging on deal to release Ipob leader if he gets elected

NNAMDI Kanu's family has accused President Bola Tinubu of reneging on an agreement he made with them during the election campaign in 2023 that the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) leader would be freed upon his assumption of office.

Since 20221, Mr Kanu has been in detention after being abducted by Nigerian security forces in Kenya and flown to Nigeria, where he has since been charged to court. Highly controversial, Mr Kanu has been campaigning for the recreation of the independent republic of Biafra which broke away from Nigeria between July 1967 and January 1970 during the civil war.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari's administration defied court orders to release Mr Kanu, challenging such decisions in higher courts. According to Kanunta Kanu, the Ipob leader's brother, the family had entered a pact with President Tinubu's son Seyi during the 2023 election campaign, that Nnamdi would be released if his father got elected.

Pointing out that the deal had the blessing of the president, Kanunta, has accused President Tinubu of refused to honour the pact by releasing the Ipob leader. According to Kanunta, it was agreed that Ipob would not boycott the 2023 elections on the grounds that President Tinubu would release Nnamdi Kanu if elected president.

He added: ”Before the last election, I received a message from an ex-governor that Seyi, the son of President Tinubu, wanted to see me. I agreed to meet with him on the condition that the over-riding priority and hence the fulcrum of our discussion will be the release of my brother.

“The meeting was held in Abuja in the presence of another individual whom I asked along to witness the deliberations and provide independent verification should the need arise. Seyi confirmed to me that his father sanctioned the meeting and that I should consider any agreement we reach as binding on the then candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“In good faith we agreed that I shall relay the outcome to my brother to reinforce the long held tradition of Ipob not interfering with the conduct of elections, either through boycott or any other form of civil disobedience. This understanding was duly communicated to my brother and he reaffirmed his commitment not to stop the elections or order any boycott.

“When President Tinubu as a candidate visited Owerri during his campaign, he too reiterated his commitment to facilitate the release of my brother if elected. We took his public statement as a tacit reaffirmation of the understanding I reached with his son Seyi.

“It, therefore, defies logic that nearly two years after President Tinubu assumed the mantle of leadership in Nigeria, my brother is still in detention despite not having any charge against him. It’s been over three months now that Justice Binta Nyako excused herself from the case yet no new judge has been assigned the case.”