Why Nnamdi Kanu’s Case Needs a Political, Not Legal, Remedy- Orji Kalu

The lawmaker representing Abia North, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has called for a political solution to the ongoing legal battle between the Federal Government and the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Mr Kalu made the appeal while reacting to the recent conviction of Mr Kanu by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on terrorism-related charges.

The former Abia State governor said he had been engaging with the Federal Government on the matter.

“The problem of Nnamdi Kanu is what we need to solve [via a] political process,” the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker said on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“I have been working with the Federal Government of Nigeria on how to solve this issue, and nobody should question the decision of Justice Omotosho,” he added.

Mr Kalu noted that while Mr Kanu’s lawyers would approach the Court of Appeal to challenge the ruling, he would reach out to the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to advise the President on possible next steps.

He lamented that many people in the South-east lost their jobs and sources of livelihood due to IPOB’s activities, adding that dozens of Igbo people had been killed in the region as a result.

‘Mounted Pressure on Buhari’

The senator also recounted his role in securing Mr Kanu’s earlier release in 2017, saying he mounted significant pressure on then-President Muhammadu Buhari. He praised the contributions of Mamman Daura and former Attorney General Abubakar Malami during that period.

“I know the pressure I personally put on President Buhari before he was released in April 2017. Nobody is talking about the Igbo who were killed,” he added.

Mr Kanu’s case, which began in 2015, took a major turn last Thursday when Justice James Omotosho sentenced him to life imprisonment for terrorism. The judge imposed the life term on counts one, four, five, and six—choosing life imprisonment rather than the death penalty.

Mr Kanu also received 20 years imprisonment on count three and five years on count seven, without an option of fine. The court held that the prosecution had proved all seven counts beyond reasonable doubt.

Justice Omotosho said evidence before the court showed that Mr Kanu ordered sit-at-home directives in the South-east and made broadcasts threatening that “people would die and the world would be at a standstill.”
All sentences, the judge ruled, will run concurrently.

However, a consultant to the IPOB leader, Aloy Ejimakor, has vowed to challenge the life sentence.