ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Monitoring and Evaluation of House’s Committees and Representative of Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia State, Hon. Obi Aguocha has warned against legal moves to convert the conviction of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to death by hanging.
Hon. Aguocha who made this known in statement on Sunday noted that the government should not pretend that the consequences of this case are only legal as they are emotional, political and national.
He noted that the danger for the Nigeria state is obvious as a legal victory can be won and still leave behind a gapping political debt, a sentence can be secured and still fail to settle the deeper question of belonging and marginalization.
Aguocha insisted that political solution to Kanu’s release remains the way to go.
Parts of the statement titled :
“Nothing Must Happen to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu” say:
“There are court cases that end as legal records, and there are court cases that become national omen. The Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s matter has moved firmly into the second category. What is now before the Court of Appeal in Abuja is not merely a dispute over conviction and sentence; it is a fierce contest over law, power, symbolism, and the emotional temperature of an entire Igbo Nation.
‘The government’s notice of cross-appeal filed on the 6th of February 2026 in response to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s appeal no: [CA/ABJ/CR/393/2026] against the judgment of charge no: [FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015]. This cross-appeal demands the pronouncement of the death penalty on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by clearly stating in relief 4:D “Pronounce That The Death Sentence Upon You, Nnamdi Kanu, Is That You Be Hanged By The Neck Until You Be Dead” has transformed the case yet again.
“In that filing, the government expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, delivered by Justice J. K. Omotosho, on 20th November 2025. It argued that the trial judge erred by imposing a sentence below what it described as the mandatory punishment under the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013. It will be recalled that I was the alocotus, being the last person invited by Justice Omotosho to address the court before its judgement was rendered. I pleaded for the honourable court to temper justice with mercy and spare the life of our brother, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“This cross appeal filling has sharpened the stakes dramatically. The government is not merely defending the conviction it secured at trial; it is now demanding the appellate court to go further, to set aside the sentence imposed on Counts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, and to pronounce the death penalty by hanging.
“The legal language in the filing is as cold as it is devastating. The APC Federal government insists that the trial court erred and acted without jurisdiction when it imposed life imprisonment instead of the ultimate sentence, it says the statute mandated. It argues that where National Assembly has prescribed a specific punishment, that no court has discretion to substitute its own preference, and any sentence imposed in breach of that requirement is illegal, void, and liable to be set aside.
“In the South East, this position by the APC led Federal Government cannot be read in the abstract. It is a direct threat and why the cry must grow louder: “NOTHING MUST HAPPEN TO NNAMDI KANU.” This cross-appeal is not just a legal filing; it is a signal and declaration of intent and of hardening resolve by the APC led federal government irrespective of protestations by well meaning South Easterners and Nigerians as a whole calling for a political solution on this matter.
“The government is clearly demeaning the obvious, that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is no longer seen only as a defendant, rather he has become a symbol around which grief, anger, identity, and political suspicion have gathered. In the South-East, his continued detention has come to represent something larger than his personal liberty. It is tied to questions of belonging, justice, fairness, and the place of the Ndi Igbo in the Nigerian federation.
“The tension is intensified by the fact that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has already filed an appeal challenging his conviction and sentence. According to his filling, he is asking the Court of Appeal to quash the judgment of charge no: [FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015], set aside the sentences, discharge, and acquit him on all counts. The appellate court is now confronted with a case of two powerful motions running side by side where the APC led federal government is seeking the death of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by hanging.
“In the South-East, the matter is a recurring pressure point that sits inside town hall and political meetings, market conversations, church discussions, and the private calculations of voters who are asking whether the government has truly understood the scale of the injustices at the root of the agitation for Biafra and emancipation of Ndi Igbo, rightly or wrongly from Nigeria. These grievances shape the perception and the political meaning of this case.
“Perception matters. Politics does not always move on facts alone; it also moves on how people feel about the facts. That is why Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case has become a mood. It is one of those rare legal matters which has seeped so deeply into public emotion that its mishandling will definitely influence a massive inclination of voters to rethink the tone of their political engagement in the upcoming 2027 general election among other considerations.
“The danger for the Nigeria state is obvious. A legal victory can be won and still leave behind a gapping political debt. A sentence can be secured and still fail to settle the deeper question of belonging. In the South-East, many of us interpret the continued intimidation on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, his legal and medical team, as evidence that Nigeria has yet to find the right language for peace and reconciliation.
“That is why the phrase “Nothing Must Happen to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu” carries so much weight. It is not merely a plea for mercy. It is an expression of fear, frustration, and double standards, especially in the administration of criminal justice. It is a reminder that when a case becomes a symbol, the consequences of each judicial step does spread far beyond the person named in the case file.
“The release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains the collective aspiration of Ndigbo. But if those holding him refuse to do the needful, they should be ready to face the wrath of Igbo voters across the nation in the upcoming 2027 general election. Without mincing words: anything short of this phrase “Nothing Must Happen to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu” will be completely unacceptable. I reiterate my call to the APC led federal government for a political solution. A stitch in time saves nine.
“I also echo loudly the wishes and aspirations of Ndi Igbo on this matter not because the law should be ignored, but because the Nigerian state can not afford to pretend that the consequences of this case are only legal. They are emotional. They are political. And they are national.’
