The governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo’s press secretary, Christian Aburime, has insisted that the call for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s unconditional release from prison was not made for political reasons.
According to Aburime, Soludo’s demand for Kanu’s release resulted from a sincere desire to end the persistent insecurity in the South-East.
At a campaign rally for the All Progressives Grand Alliance a few days ago, Soludo urged for the IPOB leader’s immediate and unconditional release. The governor said he was prepared to serve as his surety.
His comments have drawn angry responses from people in the South-East, who have asserted that the governor made the choice for political reasons because elections are just around the corner.
Aburime, however, claimed in a Tuesday interview with The PUNCH that the governor requested Kanu’s release because he had noticed that the IPOB leader needed to address the people of the South-East in order to reduce regional insecurity.
He expressed concern that the public had interpreted the governor’s “genuine” call with the wrong motivations and political connotations.
Additionally, he made it clear that Soludo spoke in his capacity as the governor of Anambra State and that he had not discussed the issue with any other South-East governors.
He said the governor observed that insecurity in the region has continued to worsen since the detention of the IPOB leader.
On why Labour Party campaign billboards were pulled down, Aburi insisted that the LP defaulted in payment which made the signage agency pull down their signboards.
He said, “The call for the release of Kanu by Soludo is borne out of genuine desire and intention to remove insecurity from the South-East. You will recall that insecurity has been a major problem in the region since Kanu was detained.
“You will observe that people have been dying every day and you hear about killings here and there in the region. The governor, with the help of President Muhammadu Buhari, has deployed what is called a kinetic approach to fighting the insecurity in the region. But he (Soludo) found out that it is about time to also adopt the non-kinetic approach, which is to bring the critical stakeholders, like Kanu, around the table and discuss the issue of insecurity with a view to finding a permanent solution.
“And he is now saying that Kanu should be released to be part of the people that should be called to the roundtable to have a discussion on insecurity and the governor is saying that the Federal Government should release him unconditionally so he can speak to the people of the South-East.
“And if he cannot be released unconditionally, the governor said he is willing to stand as his surety. That is a genuine call, it has nothing to do with political motives or selfish interest. It is a genuine call intended to bring sustainable peace to the region.
“Soludo recognised the fact that the court has set Kanu free and he said if the federal government cannot release him unconditionally due to some considerations, he is willing to offer himself as surety and to provide him anytime the Federal Government wants him.
“I cannot say if the governor is planning to consult or meet with other South-East governors concerning the issue of Kanu, but what I can say is that the letter to the AGF is ready and will be delivered to him any moment from now.
“On the issue of campaign billboards, nobody pulled down any billboard for political reasons, what happened was that the LP defaulted in payment and the signage agency of Anambra went after the billboards that they did not pay for. The campaign billboards of APC or PDP were not removed, because they followed the due process.”