The family of detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of failing to honour a pre-election agreement allegedly brokered by his son, Seyi Tinubu.
The agreement, according to Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, involved assurances that Nnamdi Kanu would be released if Tinubu was elected president.
In a detailed statement, Prince Emmanuel disclosed that Seyi Tinubu, with his father’s approval, met him in Abuja before the 2023 elections to negotiate the deal.
During the meeting, IPOB reportedly agreed to forgo any calls for election boycotts in exchange for Kanu’s release once Tinubu assumed office.
“Seyi confirmed to me that his father sanctioned the meeting and that any agreement we reached would be binding on then-candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Prince Emmanuel stated.
He further claimed that Tinubu’s public statements during his campaign in Owerri reiterated this commitment.
He added: “At the end, IPOB did not call for election boycott despite having the capacity to do so. IPOB also made sure that discordant voices urging election boycott were overcome because election boycotts would not reflect well on the reputation of a global movement that prides itself on adherence to democratic tenets.
“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 recused herself from the case yet no new judge has been assigned the case.
“This is on top of the fact that the Appeal Court had earlier discharged him of the sham charges and ordered his release which the previous regime of Buhari declined to obey.
“Supreme Court determination that his bail ought not to have been revoked has been ignored by the courts and the government. The latest insult is that Abuja courts of all persuasion are no longer willing to determine the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on merit but are rather relying on ludicrous and inapplicable technicalities to stall the timely determination of his cases.
“The truth is that Nigerian courts cannot, will not and do not have both the substantive and procedural jurisdiction to try him. His detention is without the backing of any known law in Nigeria or elsewhere in the world.
“It’s a shame that those who claim to be men of honour cannot honour their word.”
Kanu’s continued detention, he argued, violates Nigerian and international laws, stressing that there is no legal basis for his incarceration.
The family urged President Tinubu to honour the alleged agreement and end the prolonged detention of the IPOB leader.
