Release Nnamdi Kanu Or Risk Losing 2027 Election, Ohanaeze Youth Council to Tinubu

The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has threatened that the continued imprisonment of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, could cost President Bola Ahmed Tinubu his re-election bid in the 2027 presidential election. In a press statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the National President of the OYC, Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, described Kanu’s arrest, rendition, prosecution, and imprisonment as “invalid and unconstitutional.” Igboayaka alleged that there was a “Fulani-orchestrated conspiracy against Ndigbo,” which he claimed had been handed over to Tinubu by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. According to him, Tinubu had the opportunity to discontinue what he described as the “illegal trial” of Kanu initiated under Buhari’s government, but failed to do so. “The extraordinary rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya remains an unlawful act, a deliberate contravention of international law orchestrated by the British Government,” Igboayaka stated. Drawing comparisons with the 1984 attempted abduction of former Nigerian minister Umaru Dikko in the United Kingdom, the OYC president argued that those involved in Kanu’s rendition have escaped accountability. He recalled that Dikko was allegedly kidnapped in London on July 5, 1984, during the military regime of former Head of State Muhammadu Buhari, but was rescued after British customs officers intercepted the operation. According to Igboayaka, British customs officer Charles Moro discovered that the crate used in the operation lacked diplomatic documentation, prompting authorities to stop the flight. “Umaru Dikko was found unconscious but alive inside the crate and was subsequently rescued,” he said. He added that Nigerian and Israeli nationals linked to the incident were later arrested, convicted, and jailed in the United Kingdom, resulting in a diplomatic crisis between Nigeria and Britain. “Regrettably, Mallam Abubakar Malami, the then Attorney General of the Federal Government, and other masterminds of this international scandal are currently not facing any consequences, allegedly because the offense was committed against an Igbo individual,” he said. The OYC president further claimed that the Nigerian state systematically victimises Igbo people, saying, “It is truism that the meaning of Nigeria is the victimization of Ndigbo.” Igboayaka added, “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s abduction or kidnapping by the Nigerian government demonstrates that the government can take drastic measures to violate international law or domestic law in order to target an Igbo individual. “In the absence of any established law to target an Igbo individual, the Nigerian government can rapidly devise an unjust law specifically to target an Igbo individual.” He warned that Tinubu’s chances in the 2027 election could suffer if Kanu remains in prison. “It is imperative that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu discontinues the case of Nnamdi Kanu, stops his incarceration, and releases him unconditionally, or risk jeopardizing his second-term agenda,” he said. “It is unrealistic to assume that the votes of the people of Old Eastern Nigeria, specifically the Ndigbo, will go to Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 Presidential election while Nnamdi Kanu remains in prison.” He further described Kanu as “an Iroko tree by the new Igbo generation,” saying the IPOB leader symbolises the struggle for Igbo freedom. “Nnamdi Kanu is perceived as an iroko tree by the new Igbo generation, epitomizing Ndigbo’s struggle for freedom and drawing parallels with the Israelites' biblical narrative of Moses and Joshua’s journey to the promised land,” he stated. “And his ongoing imprisonment to the 2027 general election suggests that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political career is buried, and he has signed his defeat in the 2027 poll.”