Renowned Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari, to set the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, free before he hands over to the President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu on May 29.

Clark made the appeal in a statement he issued in Abuja yesterday, wondering why Buhari would reappoint a former Inspector General of Police, who was sacked by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said: “I advise President Buhari to obey court rulings, including that delivered on Nnamdi Kanu. As he winds up his tenure, I advise him to re-examine his actions.”

He lamented that Buhari who pledged to uphold the laws of Nigeria was breaching them.

Clark said: “It is quite disturbing that the same man who swore to uphold the laws of the land, is flagrantly breaching them.

“A case in point is the recent re-appointment of Suleiman Abba as Chairman, Board of Trustees, Nigeria Police Trust Fund on May 5, 2023.

“Suleiman Abba is from Jigawa State, in the North-west; former Secretary of the Fund, Mr. Abdullahi Bala is from Sokoto State, also from the North-west.

“The previous Secretary who resigned his post to contest gubernatorial election is also from Sokoto State, northern part of the country.

“One expected that if the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the police fund is from the northern part of the country, the Secretary should come from the South and vice versa, because this is one of the ways of keeping Nigeria’s unity.

“Mr. Suleiman Abba is a former Inspector General of Police. He joined the Nigeria Police Force as a graduate in 1984 and rose to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police in February 2012.

“For him to be made IG, many senior officers and about seven Deputy Inspector Generals (DIGs) including Mike Zuokumor, who hail from Bayelsa State as Jonathan, were forced out when they were retired from service.

“Jonathan did not want to appoint Mike Zuokumor, who was qualified by merit because they were from the same state/region.

“With such a huge concession made by Mr. President Jonathan to appoint Suleiman Abba IG, many of us thought Abba would serve the country, the Nigeria Police Force and the President Jonathan’s administration with all diligence and truthfulness as Inspector General of Police.

“This is in consideration of him having regard to how close President Jonathan was with the traditional ruler who recommended Suleiman Abba for the appointment.

“So, we were shocked and disappointed to hear of the roles he played during the 2015 presidential elections which took place between 28th and 29th March, 2015, especially in Kano State.

“Buhari disregarded the provisions of the Federal Character as enshrined in the country’s Constitution. He has a penchant for doing this. And this is very unfortunate.

Clark said the nepotic nature of Buhari was one of the reasons “why the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum, which I lead, took the federal government to court for breaching the constitution.

(THISDAY)

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