Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has berated President Bola Tinubu for extending state pardons to several convicted individuals, including high-profile criminals and corrupt politicians, while refusing to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Reacting in a Facebook post on Thursday, Sowore described Tinubu’s action as a “glaring hypocrisy,” questioning the moral justification behind freeing convicted persons while a man demanding self-determination remains in custody despite multiple court rulings ordering his release.
President Tinubu granted pardons to a long list of convicts, among whom are a cocaine trafficker serving a life sentence, alleged coup plotter Mamman Vatsa, Nigeria’s first President, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, nationalist Herbert Macaulay, and former lawmaker Farouk Lawan, who was convicted for collecting bribes on tape.
The pardon also covered several known fraudsters and politicians found guilty of corruption.
Condemning the move, Sowore wrote:
“Yet, in all of this, Tinubu refuses to even consider the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who has been unjustly detained for years despite multiple court orders mandating his freedom. It is glaring hypocrisy—criminals and political thieves are forgiven, celebrated, and rehabilitated, while a man demanding self-determination and justice remains behind bars and tossed around in courts with the pretence that somehow it is about law.”
He ended his post with the hashtag #FreeNnamdiKanuNow, demanding Kanu’s immediate and unconditional release.
Sowore, who has been vocal about human rights and governance issues, accused the administration of selective justice, alleging that Tinubu’s pardon list reflects political expediency rather than fairness or rule of law.
Nnamdi Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his re-arrest in 2021 after being forcefully repatriated from Kenya. Despite several court orders granting him bail and directing his release, the Federal Government has continued to hold him, citing national security concerns.
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