The Presidency on Thursday described former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s call for the release of detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu as “political desperation” and “a disgraceful agenda” unbecoming of a statesman.
It accused Atiku of siding with an “anarchist” for political gain and undermining the country’s judicial process.
Atiku had earlier taken to social media to condemn Kanu’s continued detention, describing it as “an open sore on our nation’s conscience and a stain on our belief in the rule of law.”
“Defying court orders that granted him bail is an abuse of power and an assault on justice,” Atiku wrote on x.
He urged the government to either immediately release or due prosecution.
Atiku expressed support for a campaign led by activist Omoyele Sowore, who had urged opposition figures, including Atiku and Peter Obi, to march for Kanu’s release..
But, President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson, Temitope Ajayi, in a statement on Thursday, described Atiku’s public endorsement of Kanu’s release as “unconscionable” and “mind-numbing.”
Ajayi said Kanu was the architect of his prolonged detention, accusing him and his legal team of deliberately stalling proceedings.
He noted that the prosecution had already closed its case and that the court had ordered Kanu to open his defence after rejecting his no-case submission.
Ajayi accused Kanu and his followers of causing widespread violence and hardship in the South East over the past decade, saying their actions had “killed, ruined lives, and destroyed tens of thousands of livelihoods.”
Ajayi stated, “The political desperation that will make a former Vice President and a supposed statesman to be advancing this kind of disgraceful agenda is mind-numbing.
“If Nnamdi Kanu has stayed long in detention and his case has dragged on, it is because he made it so himself not because the legal system is against him. Kanu and his lawyers have used every trick and legal gymnastics to frustrate his trial.
“The Prosecution has closed its case against him. It is time for him to open his defence. No politically motivated protest will stop that after the court has ruled that he must open his defence. His lawyers entered a no-case submission, which the court threw away.
“Kanu and his foot soldiers have killed, ruined lives, and destroyed tens of thousands of livelihoods in the South East in the last 10 years. Communities in parts of the South East now lie desolate on account of Kanu’s hate campaigns.
“It is unconscionable that a former Vice President of Nigeria wants an anarchist to get a free pass and not be held accountable under the law of a country he still seeks to govern just for his own selfish political ambition. There is a minimum standard a former Vice President should never fall below.”
