Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, has again asked President Bola Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Mbah made the appeal on Thursday when he visited Mr Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The governor told reporters after meeting with Mr Tinubu that he had initiated talks with the president on the release of the IPOB leader, who has been in detention since he was re-arrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria in June 2021 after initially fleeing the country in September 2017.
“We also talked about the release of Nnamdi Kanu. You know that the South-east has made a collective demand to have Nnamdi Kanu released,” Mr Mbah told reporters.
“And we basically identified with that and requested (Kanu’s release by) Mr President, who in his inaugural address promised the people that he’s going to engender national healing and he’s going to serve with compassion.
“So, we’ve basically informed him that this (Kanu’s release) would serve as a pointer to his administration’s extension of his hands of fellowship to Ndigbo,” the governor added.
Mbah also said he discussed his recent ban of Monday sit-at-home in Enugu with Mr Tinubu.
The governor said the ban on the IPOB directive was intended to encourage private investments and stimulate ease of doing business in the state, stressing that security and infrastructures were key indicators of ease of doing business.
He said private sector investments, which he hopes to rely on in driving economic growth, would not be possible if the sit-at-home should be allowed to continue in the state.
“And obviously, what that means is that we will, of course, need to heighten our security, tackle the challenges that would flow from that, and, essentially that’s what I have come to do,” he said.