By Gideon Njoku
Those who are of the impression that President Muhammadu Buhari would intervene and cause the discontinuation of the prosecution of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, should bury it.
President Buhari is not going to do that. He is not going to intervene. The prosecution of Kanu will continue and run its full legal course.
Here is why, according to Buhari’s Minister of State for Labour Festus Keyamo, spoke recently to the a national newspaper, Daily Independent. The Constitution did not give the President the powers to do so. Because of that, he said, Buhari does not have the powers to intervene in a Court case. He said there are separation of powers. And that the Executive has no business interfering in the business of the Judiciary.
Keyamo said those appealing for Kanu’s release lose sight of what Kanu’s alleged offences are. He accused them of not thinking about those killed, families who lost members, all because of Kanu’s actions and utterances.
Keyamo: “One very crucial question I want to ask is: these same people who are pushing for the truncation of the Judicial process, can they also do well to lead a delegation, or to apologise to members of families of those people who have been killed?
“Can they talk to them and appeal to them too? Families have been bereaved, people are dead, and those are Nigerian people too that the President,also, presides over. Just for the sake of equity, can they just issue a statement, apologising to all as a result of utterances by some of these people? I have not heard them apologise, or say something of empathy to those people”
He did not spare the Igbo leaders who recently visited the President to appeal to him to release the IPOB Leader.
Keyamo: “Before the gentleman (Kanu), was brought to Court when mayhem was everywhere, I expected a delegation, too, to have gone to Mr President to condemn what was happening and, then, apologise and say, ‘we condemn what is happening’, and talk to your son to desist, openly. I didn’t see any such thing.”
He follows up with a question:
“Why did you keep quiet all these while and only came to the President when the young man was arrested?”
In their shoes, Keyamo says what he would have done.
“If my son steals in school, to say your son has committed this act, I will first beat my son in the presence of everybody to show that I am not in support of what he did. I didn’t see them do that.”
Hypocrisy
Keyamo said those asking the President to interfere in Kanu’s case are the same people who would condemn the President if they suspect the Executive had interfered in little matters.
His words: On the other hand, when there is a small indication that Executive is interfering in judicial matters, the whole country will go up in flames because at that point, they will feel that because of their political interest, the President is trying to intervene and promote one political interest over another.”
Pointing out that the President is a respecter of the rule of Law, the Minister posited: “Now, being a respecter for the rule of law, the President has allowed the judicial process to go on, and yet,cpeople are still complaining and going to him to interfere. I don’t understand. There is a matter in court. You can’t tell the President to go and intervene in the process.”
Just like Keyamo, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, a couple of days ago, said the withdrawal of the case against Kanu was not on the table. There is also no talks of pardon, yet.
Only the guilty and/or the condemned are granted pardon, and Kanu has neither been found guilty, nor condemned. He prefers the trial go its whole hog.
Recently, a group of Igbo elders led by First Republic Minister of Aviation, 94 year old Amaechi Mbazulike, had visited the President to request for Kanu’s release. Buhari described their request as “extremely difficult”, but said he would consider it.
Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, has been in the news in recent times over controversial issues. Some days ago, he dismissed the Probe Panel set up by State Governments across the country on the October 2020 #EndSARS protest, a Panel endorsed by the Federal Government, as illegal.
This, he said as soon as the Lagos Panel submitted its report which leaked version was indicating of Government, the Army and the Police. However, the Whitepaper released by the Lagos State Government, exonerated them.
