Report by Anyi Kings
published On the Biafra Post
Oct 5, 2026
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe says repeated appeals to the Tinubu administration for political intervention in Nnamdi Kanu’s case have produced the same response: the matter is before the courts.
The debate over a possible political solution to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case has taken a new turn following comments attributed to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe during a national television interview on October 2, 2026.
Abaribe was responding to growing reactions to Barrister Aloy Ejimakor’s disclosure that he and a few trusted individuals, including a governor, are making efforts to explore a political solution to Kanu’s case.
According to Abaribe, however, the problem is not that Kanu has rejected a political solution. Rather, he says such a solution has never been formally offered to Kanu in the first place.
The senator said he and other Igbo leaders had repeatedly appealed to successive administrations—from Muhammadu Buhari’s government to President Bola Tinubu’s administration—to consider political intervention in Kanu’s case.
Abaribe said they also appealed to President Tinubu to consider extending to Kanu the kind of intervention that enabled Sunday Igboho to return from his legal troubles and subsequently engage with government authorities.
But according to the senator, the response has remained largely unchanged: Kanu’s case is before the courts, and therefore the government cannot intervene.
Abaribe questioned that position by comparing the treatment of Kanu with the circumstances surrounding Igboho. He argued that both cases involved separatist agitation and questioned why the government could pursue a different approach in Igboho’s case while Kanu remains incarcerated after his extraordinary rendition to Nigeria.
He also criticised Kanu’s transfer to the correctional facility in Sokoto, arguing that the distance from the South-East makes access by his family and supporters considerably more difficult.
For Abaribe, the issue goes beyond Kanu’s conviction. He believes the manner in which the case has been handled raises questions about whether the same standard of justice and political consideration has been applied.
The interviewer then asked the question that has increasingly become central to the clemency debate:
If a political solution were offered, would Kanu accept it?
Abaribe’s answer was emphatic: the issue of Kanu rejecting a political solution cannot arise when, in his view, no political solution has been offered to him.
The Federal Government, he said, has continued to cite insecurity and criminal activities in the South-East allegedly carried out in Kanu’s name, while maintaining that his case remains a judicial matter.
Kanu, on the other hand, continues to pursue his legal appeal.
Abaribe admitted that the prolonged stalemate has frustrated many of those who have been advocating for Kanu, with some becoming increasingly silent. But he maintained that the efforts have not stopped.
The political question now is no longer simply whether Kanu would accept a political solution. It is whether the Federal Government is prepared to put one on the table.
And that may be the real obstacle standing between Kanu and the clemency his advocates continue to seek
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