…Accuses FG of double standard over release of captured terrorists …Says APC risks PDP’s fate if it ignores history ..Promises to outperform Otti in all sectors By Steve Oko UMUAHIA — The governorship candidate of the Action People’s Party (APP) in Abia State, Gen. Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma (retd.), has vowed to deploy every legal, political and social means at his disposal to secure the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, if elected governor in 2027. Ijioma, a former Director of Military Operations in the Northeast, said Kanu’s continued detention was unacceptable, insisting that his administration would not allow the Federal Government to “toy with the liberty” of any Abia citizen. The retired general, who spoke at a press conference in Umuahia ahead of the commencement of the governorship campaign, said he would make Kanu’s release a priority if elected. “I speak without any fear of equivocation, when I become the governor of Abia State, I will compel the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu. I will invest my time as governor. I will invest the resources of the state, and I will pursue that matter through every legal means, through every political means, through every social means to ensure that Nnamdi Kanu is released,” he said. According to him, Kanu’s case was not merely about individual liberty but also about justice and the rule of law. He said, “Nnamdi Kanu will not remain in prison with me as governor of Abia State. Because first and foremost, he is a citizen of Abia State where I will be presiding as governor. And I will not allow the Federal Government to toy with the liberty of anybody from Abia State. Not only Nnamdi Kanu but others like him. They won’t do it.” ‘Kanu being maltreated because he is Igbo’ Ijioma condemned what he described as the Federal Government’s maltreatment of Kanu, alleging that the IPOB leader was being treated differently because of his Igbo origin. “I condemn in its totality the maltreatment the Federal Government has meted out to Nnamdi Kanu and by extension to us as Igbo people. They are doing it to him because he is from Igbo extraction. There is no other reason,” he alleged. He recalled that during the administration of former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, he approached the governor with proposals on how the state could intervene and prevail on the Federal Government to secure Kanu’s freedom. Ijioma also compared Kanu’s case with that of other separatist and insurgent figures, questioning what he described as the Federal Government’s different approaches to such cases. “There is nothing Nnamdi Kanu did that Sunday Igboho, agitating for Oduduwa Republic, didn’t do two times. There is nothing Nnamdi Kanu has done that Boko Haram leaders that we captured and the Federal Government released them haven’t done,” he said. Calls for media scrutiny of government spending The APP governorship candidate urged journalists to intensify their scrutiny of government expenditure and interrogate claims made by public officials. “I would also appeal to you, the media, because you are the fourth estate of the realm, to step forward and step up your game; to interrogate some of these things that are being loaded over people and people are keeping quiet,” he said. ‘I’ll outperform Otti in every sector’ Ijioma also declared that he would outperform the incumbent Governor Alex Otti if elected, particularly in infrastructure and other areas of development. “I will outperform Otti when I’m elected. So, if Abia people want progress and they say Otti has performed, they should wait until I come. I will outperform him in the construction of roads. I will outperform him in every parameter and in every sector,” he said. Ijioma said he had developed a 23-point manifesto, which he described as his “compact with Abia people.” He promised to make public accountability a central feature of his administration, including establishing direct channels through which citizens could communicate with him. “If a mechanic calls me, I will answer. In fact, I will have a line and dedicate it that the people of Abia State can call me directly and I will speak to them. There is nobody that is too small that I will not answer. And if you take me to question about my policy, I will answer you,” he said. He added, “I will not abuse you. The governor is the servant of the people, not their boss. If they didn’t elect you, you wouldn’t be governor.” Osun election: ‘Power and intimidation have limits’ Reacting to the outcome of the recently concluded Osun State governorship election,
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