A former lawmaker who represented Oshodi-Isolo from 2015 to 2023 in the Lagos Assembly, Jude Idimogu, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to grant clemency to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Kanu, the leader of the self-determination movement, was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2021, brought to Nigeria, and had since been in custody facing trial.
Idimogu in an interview with NAN on Sunday in Lagos, said releasing Kanu would help the ruling APC in the South-East as the nation approaches the 2027 general elections.
“It will add to our votes in the South-East. If the President can look at this issue, the South-East will never forget him but forever be grateful,” he said.
Idimogu urged well-meaning Nigerians including Igbo leaders, South-East governors to speak with one voice by appealing to the President to grant Kanu pardon.
He said that such pardon if granted would not be forgotten and would aid the party’s fortune in South-East in 2027 general elections.
The ex-lawmaker said, “I want to plead with our President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to kindly see the need to use political means to grant Nnamdi Kanu clemency.
“I want to appeal to all well meaning Nigerians, not just those from Igbo extraction, to help plead with Mr President to use his good office to release Nnamdi Kanu.
“If this is done, I believe the insecurity situation and tension in the South- East will reduce if not completely curbed and eradicated.”
According to him, a lot of miscreants have been using Kanu’s name to cause mayhem and atrocities in the region.
Idimogu, who is the deputy leader of Ndigbo in Lagos APC, said that the release of Kanu has a lot of advantages both for the South-East and Nigeria.
He said that it would de-escalate the tension and make the economy of the region to come alive again.
“Mr President, kindly look at the South-East case and bring back businesses and trading long stagnated in the region because of insecurity.
“An average Igbo man is a trader. We cannot overlook this situation and the contributions of these traders in the South-East to the economy.
“South-East used to be home to a lot of people before now, it just suddenly changed to be dens of insecurity and other vices. This can be arrested with Kanu’s release.
“Mr President, we know you to be a father with a compassionate heart, please, help us in the South-East, grant Kanu freedom to stabilise our region,” Idimogu stated.
