The Ohanaeze Youth Council says President Bola Tinubu could risk the votes of the Igbo race in the 2027 presidential election if he failed to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is serving a life imprisonment at the Sokoto Correctional Centre after being found guilty of treason-related offences. He has however appealed his conviction, though his Special Counsel, Barr Aloy Ejimakor, claims the matter is unduly being delayed from being heard by the federal government.
The President General of OYC, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, said President Tinubu risks losing support of the people of Southeast if a political solution is not sought to resolve Kanu’s matter. His position is contained in a statement he issued in the aftermath of his visit to Kanu at Sokoto Correctional Centre.
He said, “After Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is another Igbo man that has won the heart of Ndigbo through his consistency and relentless effort on the political survival of Ndigbo and South-South Nigeria at large. It’s, therefore, a wrong political calculation and strategy for Tinubu to think of getting even 5% or rig election in the whole Old Eastern Nigeria Region, particularly Southeast in 2027.”
He said Kanu could influence Ndigbo politically, especially the youths, adding that, “It’s truism that the release of Kanu and national political reconciliation will spur Ndigbo to consider any form of support to Tinubu in the 2027 presidential poll.”
According to the Ohanaeze youth leader, the governors in Southeast would not deliver Tinubu come 2027 if Kanu remains in the custody. He said Tinubu should be on the path of national reintegration.
“The agitation for self-determination of IPOB can only be confronted with dialogue, negotiation and not with judicial process, harassment, intimidation and imprisonment. We therefore challenge governors of Southeast states that if Kanu remains in prison during the election, Ndigbo all over the 36 states of Nigeria and the globe will teach Tinubu a hard political lesson at polling units across Nigeria,” he added.
