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Kanu’s family accuses Tinubu of failing to honour pre-2023 agreement to release IPOB leader

The family of incarcerated leader of proscribed Igbo secessionist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has accused President Bola Tinubu of failing to honour an alleged agreement reached before the 2023 general election to release their brother.
The Kanu family, in a statement on Thursday by his younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, claimed Tinubu had sent his son, Seyi, to personally meet with them before the 2023 election where an agreement was struck concerning the release of Kanu.
Prince Emmanuel stated that part of the agreement with Seyi Tinubu which had the approval of his father, was that IPOB would not call for an election boycott nor disrupt the election in exchange for Kanu’s release if Tinubu was elected president.
“Before the last election, I received a message from a former governor that Seyi, the son of President Tinubu, wanted to meet with me,” Prince Emmanuel said in the statement.
“I agreed on the condition that the priority of our discussion would be the release of my brother. The meeting took place in Abuja with another individual present as a witness.
“Seyi assured me that the meeting was sanctioned by his father and that any agreement reached would be binding. In good faith, we agreed that IPOB would not interfere with the election process.
“I relayed this understanding to my brother, and he reaffirmed IPOB’s commitment to not call for an election boycott or civil disobedience.
“When Tinubu visited Owerri during his campaign, he publicly reaffirmed his commitment to facilitating my brother’s release if elected.
“IPOB kept its part of the agreement, ensuring there was no call for election boycott, despite having the capacity to do so.”
Prince Emmanuel however, expressed the family’s disappointment that almost two years after Tinubu emerged president, his brother has continued to languish in detention despite several courts granting him bail or dismissing the case in his favour.
“However, it defies logic that nearly two years after President Tinubu assumed office, my brother remains in detention without any formal charges.
“The Appeal Court discharged him and ordered his release, a decision the Buhari administration ignored.
“The Supreme Court also determined that his bail should not have been revoked, yet this has been disregarded.
“Nigerian courts are unwilling to resolve his case on merit, relying instead on technicalities to stall proceedings. His detention lacks any legal basis, either in Nigeria or elsewhere in the world.
“It is deeply disappointing that those who claim to be honorable cannot keep their word,” he lamented.
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