Tinubu's Minister Mentions FG's Condition to Negotiate Nnamdi Kanu's Release

• President Bola Tinubu's Minister of Works, David Umahi, has disclosed that the federal government is ready to negotiate the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the proscribed IPOB
• Umahi, a two-term governor of Ebonyi, dismissed the reports that the southeast has started using Kanu's release as a condition to support President Tinubu's second-term ambition
• The minister expressed optimism that Kanu will be released not by pressure and political conditions but by dialogue and God's grace

Senator Dave Umahi, Minister of Works, has disclosed that the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government is ready to negotiate the release of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

The minister disclosed this while addressing journalists in Lagos on Friday night, July 4, adding that the only condition is that it should not be used as a condition to gain political support.

Umahi dismisses report of southeast's condition to Tinubu

According to The Punch, Umahi subsequently dismissed the reports that suggested that the Southeast has started using the release of the estranged IPOB leader as a precondition to support the second-term ambition of President Tinubu in the 2027 election.

He explained that the reason for Tinubu's administration position was due to the fact that the current government was not the one that put him in jail

His statement reads in part:

“Somebody asked me about Nnamdi Kanu, and I said his matter is not a condition for the South East to support the President. We are willing to negotiate his release, but no one should make it a condition because the President did not put him there.”

Umahi praises President Tinubu

Umahi then praised President Tinubu's performance in office so far, adding that he had been a listening leader, and expressed the confidence that Kanu would eventually be released through dialogue and divine grace, not political demands and pressure.

The former governor of Ebonyi also bragged that the Southeast is fully in support of Tinubu and would vote for him in the 2027 election. He dismissed the notion that the region was being marginalised under Tinubu's administration, adding that this government had done more for the region than any Nigerian leader in the past.

When was Nnamdi Kanu arrested?

Nnamdi Kanu had been in detention and facing trial since 2021, when he was rearrested in Kenya and repatriated to Nigeria. There were claims that he was arrested by the Interpol in Kenya, but the international police had denied having any involvement in the arrest of the embattled leader of IPOB. It was later reported that the Kenyan police arrested him.

The leaders in the southeast have called on President Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu and resolve his case through a political solution. However, Kanu's trial witnessed a new dawn after his demand for a new judge was recently granted.

Kanu's family denies fake news about IPOB leader

Legit.ng earlier reported that Nnamdi Kanu's family has denied the report that the embattled leader of the proscribed IPOB admitted to inciting the public against the police and other security personnel.

Prince Emmanuel Kanu, speaking on behalf of the family, described the claim as a misrepresentation of what transpired at the hearing on Tuesday, April 6.

According to Kanu's family, certain news outlets are misrepresenting the court proceedings with misleading headlines that do not reflect the reality.

Source: Legit.ng