{"id":72490,"date":"2025-08-07T12:27:55","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T12:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=72490"},"modified":"2025-08-07T12:27:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T12:27:55","slug":"ngige-urges-tinubu-to-release-nnamdi-kanu-citing-economic-collapse-in-south-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/08\/07\/ngige-urges-tinubu-to-release-nnamdi-kanu-citing-economic-collapse-in-south-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Ngige Urges Tinubu to Release Nnamdi Kanu, Citing Economic Collapse in South East"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Merciful Omoba<\/strong><\/p>\n

Former Anambra State Governor and immediate past Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, as a step toward resolving escalating insecurity and economic decline in the South East.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, Ngige said Kanu\u2019s prolonged detention has crippled economic activities in the region, largely due to the ongoing Monday sit-at-home protests.<\/p>\n

He called for a political solution to the matter, warning that the current approach is unsustainable.<\/p>\n

Ngige expressed disappointment that former President Muhammadu Buhari ignored similar appeals, despite repeated interventions by prominent Igbo leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I was disappointed, and I told him,\u201d Ngige said, recalling a 2022 meeting between Buhari and a high-level Igbo delegation comprising the late Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, the late Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Bishop Onuoha, Chief Ralph Uwazurike, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, and himself.<\/p>\n

According to Ngige, during the meeting, Chief Mbazulike passionately pleaded for Kanu\u2019s release into the custody of the delegation. While visibly moved, Buhari described the request as \u201cdifficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could see the pain on his face, but he allowed the delegation access to Kanu,\u201d Ngige noted.<\/p>\n

Ngige said he later met with Buhari privately to urge him to exercise the presidential prerogative of mercy, which allows a sitting president to pardon individuals either convicted or facing trial.<\/p>\n

However, Buhari cited judicial independence and national security concerns as constraints.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven today, I firmly believe Nnamdi Kanu\u2019s case requires a political resolution,\u201d Ngige said. \u201cThe President must show magnanimity, especially now that the South East economy is being strangled by the weekly lockdowns.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasized that the sit-at-home orders have devastated the region\u2019s economy, especially for informal workers and self-employed youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of young men are idle and justify their inaction by pointing to Kanu\u2019s incarceration,\u201d he said. \u201cSome even cite court rulings both local and international, declaring his arrest and extradition illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ngige urged President Tinubu to act in the spirit of national unity and reconciliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am appealing to Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to grant this gesture and help restore economic and social stability to the South East. Let our young people begin to rebuild their lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Merciful Omoba Former Anambra State Governor and immediate past Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, as a step toward resolving escalating insecurity and economic decline in the South East. Speaking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":72491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72492,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72490\/revisions\/72492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}