Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, said on Wednesday that pardoning Nnamdi Kanu, the embattled leader of the proscribed secessionist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, is premature because the IPOB leader is still facing terrorism-related charges.
Malami made his remarks on Channels Television's current affairs show, "Politics Today."
Kanu is set to appear before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, according to the AGF.
On November 10, 2021, Justice Nyako adjourned Kanu's trial until January 19 and 20, 2022, but the court allowed an abridgement of time when a motion was submitted in that regard.
On November 19, 2021, a delegation of respected Igbo elders led by Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, Minister of Aviation in the First Republic, paid a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock, requesting the unconditional release of the detained secessionist leader.
Buhari had assured them that he would not want to meddle with the judiciary's operations, but that he would examine their request, which he described as "a hefty one."
On November 10, 2021, Malami also stated that a political solution to the Nigerian separatist crisis cannot be ruled out.
However, when asked about the possibility of an out-of-court settlement to free the IPOB leader on Wednesday night, the AGF said that a political solution is not on the table right now.
The thought of a pardon for Kanu, according to Malami, is premature because he is still facing a court of law.
"In the Nigerian context, pardon is a function of conviction, and as far as I know, Nnamdi Kanu has not been convicted yet, so the idea of pardoning him is premature against the backdrop of the ongoing trials associated with him," he said.
"I am not ruling out any possibility, but it is not directly on the table," Malami replied when asked if an out-of-court or political settlement is on the table.
When asked if Kanu's release would help the South-East heal, the AGF replied, "I have not accessed the security aspect of that in terms of being a solution."
Kanu, 54, was born in Afaraukwu, Abia State, on September 25, 1967. He was arrested in 2017 for calling for the South-East zone of Nigeria to secede from the Nigerian state.
However, he skipped bail in June 2018 before fleeing to the United Kingdom, claiming that his life was no longer secure in Nigeria.
Malami said on June 29, 2021, at a news conference in Abuja, that the IPOB leader had been re-arrested in a foreign country and deported to Nigeria.
According to his lawyers, the IPOB leader was re-arrested in Kenya and flown to Nigeria.
He was re-arrested and extradited in June 2021, he was re-arrested and extradited before Justice Nyako on terrorism-related accusations made by the AGF office. Kanu has been held in the Department of State Services' custody in Abuja since then.
Disclaimer: Comments and opinions on any part of this website are the opinions of blog commenters or anonymous individuals, and do not reflect Strenuous Blog position.