Nigerian governorship candidate vows to free Nnamdi Kanu if elected

Gen. Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma (retd.), the governorship candidate for the Action People’s Party (APP) in Abia State, Nigeria, has pledged to prioritize the release of detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu should he win the 2027 gubernatorial election.

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I speak without any fear of equivocation, when I become the governor of Abia State, I will compel the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu. I will invest my time as governor. I will invest the resources of the state, and I will pursue that matter through every legal means, through every political means, through every social means to ensure that Nnamdi Kanu is released.

Speaking at a press conference in Umuahia, Ijioma stated his intention to deploy every available legal, political, and social avenue to compel the Federal Government to release Kanu. He asserted that Kanu's continued detention is unacceptable and that his administration would not permit the Federal Government to "toy with the liberty" of any Abia citizen.

Ijioma condemned what he described as the Federal Government's "maltreatment" of Kanu, alleging that the IPOB leader is being singled out due to his Igbo ethnicity. He drew parallels between Kanu's situation and that of other separatist figures, such as Sunday Igboho, and contrasted it with the Federal Government's approach to Boko Haram leaders who have been released. Ijioma questioned this perceived double standard, suggesting it stems from Kanu's ethnic background.

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I condemn in its totality the maltreatment the Federal Government has meted out to Nnamdi Kanu and by extension to us as Igbo people. They are doing it to him because he is from Igbo extraction. There is no other reason.

The retired general also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of risking a similar fate to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if it fails to learn from history. He promised to surpass the performance of the incumbent governor, Alex Otti, in all sectors if elected. Ijioma previously engaged with former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu regarding state-level interventions to secure Kanu's freedom.

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There is nothing Nnamdi Kanu did that Sunday Igboho, agitating for Oduduwa Republic, didn’t do two times. There is nothing Nnamdi Kanu has done that Boko Haram leaders that we captured and the Federal Government released them haven’t done.