I’ll Advise Tinubu On Kanu’s Release — Orji Kalu

The senator representing Abia North senatorial district, Orji Kalu, has promised to advise President Bola Tinubu to secure the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

He also insisted that Kanu’s life-imprisonment sentence demands a political solution rather than heightened agitation.

THE WHISTLER reports his comments come a few days after Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice James Omotosho on Thursday by the Federal high court in Abuja.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Televisions Sunday Politics, Kalu said the Southeast must now prioritise strategic engagement with the Presidency, revealing that he had initiated similar efforts under former President Muhammadu Buhari and would do so again because “the region has suffered enough.”

“I have been working with the federal government of Nigeria on how to solve this issue and nobody should question the decision of Justice Omotosho. Because Justice Omotosha’s judgement is a judgment of the court.

“The Nnamdi Kanu people are going to the appellate the court and we are using the political sides to solve the problem. Because this is the area I know. I will be contacting the Attorney General to advise the President, to advise people who are concerned on how we can solve this problem,” he said.

According to him, he is deeply pained by the loss of lives and economic devastation linked to Kanu’s detention and conviction, noting that thousands in the Southeast had either been killed or forced into hardship.

“Nobody is even talking about Igbos that were killed. Nobody is talking about people that own shops that are no longer working. I have my mother’s friend that has a rice shop. The woman who owes us and owes my mother about 4.2 million Naira. They ransacked the whole shop, and the woman went bankrupt. And nobody talks about it.

“All the police officers were killed. The court never mentioned 30,000 Igbos that were killed.
The court never mentioned about people that lost their business and ran away from their villages.

“It’s not something anybody can discuss. A lot of Igbos were killed. If you don’t know, know it today.
Let Igbos not be emotional. I want us to settle down and go on our knees and find a way that a man can be released. It’s part of my job to do it,” Kanu said.

Reacting to courtroom conduct during Kanu’s sentencing, he condemned Kanu’s insults directed at the judge.

“You cannot rant in a court of competent jurisdiction. I take exception to it. Justice Omotosho is just a messenger of the court. And he did his job. If you are displeased, you go to the appellate court.”

However, he said, “Politically speaking, we will appeal to the Attorney General while they are going to the appellate court. This is where we’ll interfere.”

Turning to Nigeria’s wider security crisis, Kanu said that the recent rise in kidnappings, school abductions, and rural attacks is being driven by a calculated effort to destabilise the Tinubu administration ahead of the 2027 elections.

“What we are seeing is politically motivated. These terrorists and bandits are being orchestrated by members of the international community and local people who want to destabilise the government. They did it to Jonathan. Now they are doing it again because they don’t want President Tinubu to come back,” he said.

He claimed that intelligence agencies were already aware of the internal and external sponsors behind the violence but argued that it was not his responsibility to publicly identify them.

According to him, “These people are missionaries bought by politicians. These people are people bought by individuals. These people are people centred to destabilise a President that is ready to fight for our economy, that is ready to revamp the economy, that has been trying his best to see what he can do.” he stressed.

He also argued that Nigeria’s vast demographic strength is the reason foreign powers are uncomfortable with the country’s stability.

“What you are seeing is not what you think you are seeing. International communities don’t want this country to stand. If Nigeria stands, we will be the number one economy in the world,” he said.

Kanu praised the President for cancelling engagements to respond to the latest abductions, including the kidnapping of schoolchildren, saying the President “is not sleeping” and has placed national security at the centre of his agenda.

“Those girls will be recovered. The government is making every effort to make sure these people are recovered. Our service chiefs are on duty,” he said, adding that the current situation is “not the best of times” for the country.

Furthermore, he dismissed claims that the ruling party was failing, insisting instead that sabotage was the primary force behind the persistent insecurity.

“The party is not unpopular. The problems are there, but we are solving them. We are combatants. We are ready to fight.” he said.

He expressed confidence that neither the Kanu crisis nor the ongoing security threats would break the country, saying, “We are Nigeria, You cannot joke with this country.”