The National Security Council has stood behind the attorney general of the federation Abubakar Malami that the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu was not acquitted by the Abuja Appeal Court.
Briefing State House correspondents on Friday after a meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, the police affairs minister Mohammed Dingyadi stated that a political solution was not discussed at the council but centralised discussion on the court’s outcome.
The council, according to him, is therefore considering an appropriate action to take on the matter and would notify Nigerians of its final position on the matter in due course.
Dingyadi was joined at the press briefing by the minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola, and the chief of defense staff, General Lucky Irabor.
“Similarly, the issue of Kanu has also been raised and Council was briefed on the state of things on the matter and it was observed that Kanu was discharged, but he was not acquitted.
“So, government is considering the appropriate action to be taken on the matter and Nigerians will be notified of the position that will finally be taken on the matter in due course,” Dingyadi said.
Malami had said shortly after the Appeal Court discharged Kanu: “For the avoidance of doubt and by the verdict of the Court, Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted. Consequently, the appropriate legal options before the authorities will be exploited and communicated accordingly to the public.
“The decision handed down by the court of appeal was on a single issue that borders on rendition. Let it be made clear to the general public that other issues that predate rendition on the basis of which Kanu jumped bail remain valid issues for judicial determination.”
