Kanu’s case should be settled politically, not legally, says ex-CJ

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2023 general elections and former Chief Judge of Anambra State, Prof. Peter Umeadi, has said that the issue of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, should be treated as a political matter rather than legal.

He said that using a political approach to settle the matter would ensure that all parties become victorious at the end of the day.

Umeadi, in an interview with journalists in Abuja, also raised concerns about the conduct of the 2023 general elections, saying he was the most sincere presidential candidate in Nigeria.

He said: “Well, the issue of insecurity in the South East, first of all, is a serious matter. It will be good for that problem to be solved. If that challenge is not resolved, then you might begin to look for another reason why it is still there.

“But for now, everybody is saying it, and I agree, that the Kanu’s matter should be treated as a political matter, not a legal one. So, if he regains his freedom, perhaps that will, perhaps, be the end of what we are seeing in the South East now.”

Asked whether he believed Nigerians made a mistake by not voting him as President, the former Chief Judge said he was the most sincere of all the candidates.

He said: “Well, you have a right to make a mistake if you call it that; you have the right to do whatever you want to do, but I said it when I flagged off my campaign, and I think I should repeat what I said. Part of it is that I was sincere. In fact, I was the most sincere presidential candidate in Nigeria. So, maybe, they needed that.”

He said that the 2023 election was characterised by intimidation, coercion, vote buying and voting on bigotry of religion and ethnicity.

Umeadi said: “On intimidating people, sometimes people are told if they don’t vote for certain candidates they will go to hell. It was as bad as that; people were given money and were told how their tribe would lose it if they didn’t get it.”