The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised the Federal government’s handling of Nnamdi Kanu’s case, proposing dialogue as the only viable path to peace.
Obi stated this in an X post on Saturday, warning that Kanu’s conviction could worsen national tension.
The former Anambra governor lamented that the development came at a time when Nigerians faced “severe economic hardship, insecurity, and the consequences of poor governance.”
Obi stated that the government mishandled the case from the outset and failed to explore peaceful means to resolve it.
“The news of Nnamdi Kanu’s conviction should compel every well-meaning Nigerian to pause and reflect. I have always maintained that Kanu should never have been arrested. His arrest, detention, and now conviction represent a failure of leadership and a misunderstanding of the issues at stake,” he wrote.
He said: “Dialogue, constructive engagement, and inclusive governance offer the path to lasting peace. Coercion becomes necessary only when reason has been exhausted.”
Obi urged national leaders to prioritise reconciliation and called on the Presidency, the Council of State and respected statesmen to intervene and seek a political solution.
“If we truly desire a new Nigeria, our leaders must choose healing over hostility, reconciliation over retaliation, and dialogue over division,” he added.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday sentenced Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment for terrorism.
Justice James Omotosho found him guilty on several counts, including inciting violence, belonging to a proscribed organization – Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) – and threatening attacks on Nigerian and foreign targets.
The court held that Kanu’s broadcasts urged followers to attack security agents, burn infrastructure, and target diplomatic missions.
Justice Omotosho ruled that Nigeria remains an indivisible state and that self-determination cannot be pursued through violence.
He ordered that Kanu’s transmitter be forfeited to the government and directed authorities to hold him in a secure facility without digital access.
Justice Omotosho had also upheld allegations that Kanu used terrorism in his separatist agitation across parts of the South-East, South-South, Benue and Kogi.
However, Kanu’s legal team vowed to appeal the verdict, describing the sentence as excessive.
Following the judgement, the Department of State Services (DSS) transferred Kanu to the Nigerian Custodial Centre in Sokoto on Friday.
A security source said his relocation followed the judge’s directive that he be moved to any correctional facility outside Kuje.
Kanu’s former lawyer and consultant, Aloy Ejimakor, confirmed the movement and criticised the decision. He argued that the move “placed Kanu far from his legal team, family and supporters.”
The IPOB leader was first arrested in 2015 for treasonable felony and terrorism.
He fled Nigeria in 2017 after a military raid on his home during Operation Python Dance.
He was re-arrested in Kenya in 2021 under disputed circumstances and returned to Nigeria in what his lawyers described as an “extraordinary rendition.”
His prosecution has continued for years and remains one of Nigeria’s most sensitive and contentious legal cases.