The National Coordinator, Concerned Advocates for Good Governance (CAGG), Olusegun Bamgbose has said he can authoritatively say that President Muhammadu Buhari will soon release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho.
He asserted that the plan by the President to release both Kanu and Igboho was mainly linked with the advice that the nation’s leader got from his close associates.
He also said that the decision would be hinged upon how Buhari approaches the 2023 general elections.
Speaking convincingly, Bamgbose said the harassment of the two separatist leaders will soon be a matter of the past.
“There are strong underground moves both within and outside the country to discontinue the charges against them,” Bamgbose told Daily Post on Monday.
“Unknown to many Nigerians, some very close allies of President Buhari have strongly advised him to handle their cases wisely because of the 2023 General elections,” he said.
Bamgbose said Buhari has been told by his allies that clamping down on the Yoruba and Igbo secessionists will negatively affect the fortunes of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.
“It’s obvious from the body language of the President that he will yield to their advice. Another aspect of it is that some Southern Governors are equally secretly negotiating soft ground for the embattled agitators,” he added.
“They are not making it public for obvious reasons. There is also the pressure from International Community to release them soon. In other words, both agitators may soon regain their freedom, hopefully before the end of the year.
“Some top politicians think that considering that 2022 will be the kickstart of the electioneering campaign for the 2023 general elections, it will be ideal to release them this year.
“However, of major concern is the continued violence in the South-East. The government seems to be closely monitoring events in the South-East.
“There are plans to release Igboho to continue his journey to Germany and later release Nnamdi Kanu to South-East Governors and Ohanaeze, but on condition that he will stay back in Nigeria.
“The plans are good but the primary thing President Buhari should do is to ensure fairness to all zones in the country. He is not to be seen as representing the interest of a clan or region.
“He was not elected by a particular section of Nigeria. There must be nothing like marginalisation in any form. The votes of his clan or region could not have made him the President of Nigeria.
“In the 2011 Presidential elections, he got 12 million votes, the majority of which came from the North, but he lost to (Goodluck) Jonathan. He won in 2015 because the South supported him. In order words, he should be more nationalistic in his approach to national issues,” he said.