Malami: Nnamdi Kanu still standing trial, the idea of pardon is premature
Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has educated all those expecting a pardon and release of the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu.
Malami said Kanu is still standing trial, has not been convicted and cannot be granted a pardon.
On November 19, 2021, some respected Igbo elders from the southeast, led by Minister of Aviation in the First Republic, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, visited President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock and requested the unconditional release of the detained secessionist leader.
Buhari had told them he would not want to interfere in the running of the judiciary but said he would consider their demand though “a heavy one.”
Speaking during a Channels Television’s current affairs programme ‘Politics Today’, the AGF said the idea of a pardon for Kanu is premature because he is still standing trial before a court of law.
“Pardon is a function of conviction in the Nigerian context and as far as I know, Nnamdi Kanu has not been convicted yet so the idea of pardoning him is premature against the backdrop that the trials associated with him have not been concluded but one thing I can tell you is that he is standing trial and the trial continues as at today.”
On whether an out-of-court or political solution is on the table, Malami said, “I am not ruling out any possibility but that is not immediately on the table.”
Asked whether the release of Kanu would contribute to the healing of the South-East, the AGF said, “I have not accessed the security situation of that in terms of being a solution.”
Kanu, 54, was born on September 25, 1967, at Afaraukwu, Abia State. He had been arrested in 2017 for demanding the secession of the South-East zone from the Nigerian State.
However, he jumped bail in June 2018 before leaving for the United Kingdom, though he said that he fled because his life was no longer safe in Nigeria.
After about three years abroad, Malami at a press briefing in Abuja on June 29, 2021, announced that the IPOB leader was re-arrested in a foreign country and extradited to Nigeria.
His lawyers had said the IPOB leader was re-arrested in Kenya and whisked to Nigeria.
Follow us on social media
