The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has said that the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, is a political prisoner.
The AAC standard bearer maintained that Kanu would be released and that he only “needs a leader that respects the rule of law.”
“Kanu is a political prisoner as far as I’m concerned, and he will be released unconditionally. I am not the only one who feels this way. Our court has taken a judicial decision that Kanu has no case to answer, we just need a leader that respects the rule of law,” Sowore said.
Sowore spoke during an online programme with popular stand-up comedian, Ayodeji Makun popularly known as AY. The programme held on Thursday night and was titled ‘The AY Show with Sowore.’
Sowore was responding to a question from one of the online audience on his position about Kanu.
The PUNCH reports that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had, on October 13, 2022, freed and discharged Kanu, declaring as illegal and unlawful, his abduction from Kenya to Nigeria and quashed the entire terrorism charges brought against him by the FG.
The appellate court held that the Federal Government breached all local and international laws in the forceful rendition of Kanu to Nigeria thereby making the terrorism charges against him incompetent and unlawful.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government, through the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in a swift reaction to the discharge of Kanu had said Kanu was only discharged but not acquitted.
Sequel to this, the Federal Government went on to appeal the Court of Appeal’s judgement freeing Kanu and discharging him of all offences, seeking a stay of execution.
The appellate court, after hearing the FG’s fresh suit, granted a stay of execution of the discharging of Kanu, a ruling which the IPOB legal team had since appealed before the Supreme Court.
As of the time of filing this report, the leader of the proscribed IPOB had yet to be released from detention.
