Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the issue of releasing the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, was not part of his discussion with the South East governors in Enugu, Enugu State, on Tuesday.
Obasanjo said though he and a former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, met with the governors to discuss regional development issues, the purported planned release of Kanu by the Federal Government was not part of what was discussed
The former President disclosed this on Wednesday in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi.
The statement read, “The regional development issues discussed include that of security and infrastructure. Others were economic and cooperative/collaboration, which was meant to complement the national economic development agenda.
“The meeting with them was at my invitation and of Chief Emeka Anyaoku before their summit begins. The issue of Nnamdi Kanu was not on the agenda and was not discussed in my presence”.
It was reported that the South-East Governors Forum had resolved to visit President Bola Tinubu and interface with the Federal Government to secure the release of the detained IPOB leader.
The governors made the resolution at their meeting in Enugu on Tuesday.
The meeting, which lasted about six hours, had in attendance all the five South-East governors: Peter Mbah (Enugu); Alex Otti (Abia); Prof Charles Soludo (Anambra); Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi) and Senator Hope Uzodimma (Imo).
In a five-point communique, jointly signed by all the governors, the forum resolved to activate actionable plans with a view to implementing the report of the South-East Security and Economic Summit held in Owerri in September last year.
“The Forum resolved to visit Mr. President to discuss pressing issues concerning the South-East region.
“The Forum also resolved to interface with the Federal Government to secure the release of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu,” the communique read.
The forum also expressed grief over the death of a former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation and the first civilian governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu.