No reason for Nnamdi Kanu’s imprisonment. No one should be arrested for calling people names – Peter Obi

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, says there is no reason whatsoever for the ongoing incarceration of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu. 

Speaking during an engagement with the Nigerian diaspora in Washington, D.C., the former Anambra State governor noted that he has long advocated against Kanu’s continued detention

‘’I have said this repeatedly, there is no reason for keeping (in prison) Nnamdi Kanu. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no reason whatsoever.

You cannot arrest somebody because he was speaking on radio and calling people names. It doesn’t make sense. Anybody can tell you anything. I’m a politician. People call me all sorts of names. I don’t think calling me names is an offence. It is not an offence.

If I’m in government today, I will discuss with all agitators. I will engage with them. I will consult with them.

Because I believe that they have a reason for whatever they want to do. It’s only by engaging them that we’ll learn and see how we can solve it.”

Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, is currently serving a life imprisonment sentence following his conviction on terrorism-related charges by a Federal High Court in Abuja in November 2025. The court found him guilty of multiple counts bordering on incitement, membership of a proscribed organisation, and alleged involvement in attacks linked to separatist activities in the South-East.