Mazi Nnamd Kanu

Founder and chairman, Board of Trustees of New Nigerian Peoples Party NNPP, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam has urged President Bola Tinubu to take urgent steps to release the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, saying that his continued detention does not make for peace, not only in the South East but also across the country.

Speaking with newsmen in Lagos at the weekend, Aniebonam noted that the declaration of sit-at-home in the five states of the South East was seriously hurting the economy of the region, which will inevitably affect Nigeria’s macro economy negatively.

According to him, the region’s economy is not working optimally now due to the sit-at-home imposed by the IPOB leadership to protest what they believe is the maltreatment of the South East region of the Nigerian state, a development that has further worsened by the increasing insecurity in the once peaceful region.

While observing that during and even after the elections, many people said that the country has not been this divided along ethnic and religious lines, not even as much during the civil war, Aniebonam noted that the elections have come and gone and that a president has emerged, adding that what should be paramount now is the peace of the nation.

“The president should be the father of all citizens and therefore this is time to begin to do those things that will bring peace and unite the nation. I also think that there should be constructive engagement on the part of the government in order to ensure peace of the nation.

“President Bola Tinubu should reach out to cultural and traditional institutions such as Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, Afenifere, the Arewa Forum, the Pan Niger Delta Forum as well as those in the middle belt region. He should consult with traditional rulers across the country so as to return the country on the part of peace”, Aniebonam said.

On the outcome of the elections and the several court cases challenging them, he observed that there were really inadequacies in the electoral processes, especially with the handling of the Bi-modal Accreditation System BVAS of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, but noted that a leader has already emerged.

He however noted that it is within the fundamental rights of those aggrieved contestants to challenge the outcome of the election and that all the parties in the ongoing cases should be honest and bold enough to accept the outcomes of the judicial reviews of the entire processes.

The NNPP-boss, who also reacted to the recent removal of subsidy said: “I am one of those that believe in making wrong decisions than making none at all. But now that a decision has been taken, which I believe was a little harsh and not properly executed, the government should effectively communicate with the citizens. I had thought the government should have tackled the corruption around the subsidy scheme.

“What I have discovered of recent, which is also curious is that there is a wide gap between the government and the people and most of the time, the people do not trust their leaders. Trust is key in any relationship and trust is built and earned and not commanded. So government should come up with palliatives that could cushion the effects of the petrol subsidy removal because it must hurt the ordinary man on the street”, Aniebonam further said