The Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has said the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, is needed for the forthcoming general election to hold in the South-East.
Soludo said Kanu’s release would play a key role in the peaceful build-up of the general election starting next month.
The governor stated these on Thursday when he appeared on a Channels TV programme, ‘Politics Today’, titled, ‘One-on-One with Governor Soludo’.
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that Soludo has urged the Federal Government under Muhammadu Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention since 2021.
Soludo said he would send a formal letter to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN), in a few days, to make his request official.
On his rumoured presidential ambition, Soludo said, “The possibility of being president is in the hands of God and only Him knows who will be alive to become whatever.”
He noted that insecurity had become a huge challenge and a big threat to the 2023 elections in the South-East, adding that critical stakeholders like Kanu are needed to be around the table where security in the region would be discussed.
He also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his fast approach to solving the security challenges, not just in Anambra, but in the entire South-East.
On the piece he wrote concerning the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, the governor said he wrote the piece for the sake of history, adding that he was only concentrating on his governorship duties for now.
He said, “I have just been elected the governor of Anambra State. I have travelled to several countries and served in the highest office. I am right now serving my people and I am concentrating on giving my people quality governance.
“My party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, is also contesting in the presidential race and we are vying to win. My party will be on the ballot and I have the right to campaign as vigorously as I can for my party and that is what I am doing.
“Our major focus is delivering on our plans of security, not just in Anambra, but the entire South-East and that is why we are calling for the immediate release of Kanu because he has to be part of the conversation.
“The AGF will receive a formal letter of our request for the release of Kanu in a few days time. It’s about the life and prosperity of the entire South-East. We want peace and transformation to return and we need all the stakeholders around the table.
“We have instituted a commission of inquiry in this conversation, but this is not enough if we do not have critical forces like Kanu around the table for conversation.
“We want the South-East to participate in this election and we need Kanu. We are saying grant him administrative bail and I am prepared to stand as his surety and to provide him whenever he is required.”
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