President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu must face consequences of his actions over the years, especially while he was out of the country.
The President ruled out the option of pardoning the embattled IPOB leader, however, acknowledged that there is possibility of a political resolution.
President Buhari disclosed this in an exclusive interview on Channels Television on Wednesday.
According to President Buhari, “Nigerians know that I don’t interfere with the judiciary. Let him be listened to. For those who are saying that we should release him, no, we cannot release him.
“There is a possibility of a political solution; if people behave themselves, all well and good, but you can’t go to a foreign country and keep on sending incorrect economic and security problems against your country and thinking that you will never have to account for what you have been doing. Let him account for what he has been doing.”
In November last year, President Buhari had promised to consider the request of some leaders from the South East region to release Kanu who is facing treason charges preferred against him by the Nigerian Government.
Although he told the Igbo leaders under the aegis of Highly Respected Igbo Greats that they had made an extremely difficult demand, he insisted that the best thing was to subject the IPOB leader to the judicial system.
“There is one institution that I wouldn’t dare interfere with, and that is the judiciary,” he said. “Kanu’s case is with the judiciary, but what I wonder is when Kanu was safely in Europe abusing this administration and mentioning too many things, I never thought he really wanted to voluntarily come and defend himself on the accusations.
“So, we are giving him an opportunity to defend himself in our system, not to be abusing us from Europe as if he was not a Nigerian. Let him come here and then criticize us here.”
