FG speaks on pardoning Nnamdi Kanu today

<p><strong>The <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;OpenLife&period;ng">Federal Government<&sol;a> says the issue of pardoning leader of the outlawed <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;OpenLife&period;ng">Indigenous People of Biafra &lpar;IPOB&rpar;<&sol;a>&comma; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;OpenLife&period;ng">Nnamdi Kanu<&sol;a> is not on the table for now&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Attorney-General and Minister of Justice&comma; Abubakar Malami SAN made this known on Wednesday night while speaking on <em>Channels TV&&num;8217&semi;s Politics Today<&sol;em>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Kanu currently detained by the Department of State Services &lpar;DSS&rpar; is facing charges bordering on treason&comma; among other offences&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He is scheduled for an emergency hearing today&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Speaking on the request by some Igbo leaders that President Muhammadu Buhari should release the IPOB leader&comma; Malami said Kanu can only be pardoned after he may have been convicted&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He said&comma;<em><strong> &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Pardon is a function of conviction in the Nigerian context and as far as I know&comma; Nnamdi Kanu has not been convicted yet”&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;So&comma; the idea of pardoning him is premature&comma; against the background of the fact that the trial associated with him has not been concluded&period; But one thing that I can tell you clearly is that he is standing trial and the trial continues as at today”&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;ipob-suspends-sit-at-home-as-nnamdi-kanu-appears-in-court-tomorrow-1&sol;"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;339966&semi;">IPOB Suspends Sit-at-home As Nnamdi Kanu Appears In Court Today<&sol;span><&sol;a><&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>When asked if he believed that pardoning Kanu will help douse the tension in the country&comma; Malami said&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;I am not ruling out any possibility but that is not immediately on the table&period; I have not accessed the implication of that in terms of being a solution or a problem&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As a human and as attorney general of the federation&comma; my reasoning&comma; thinking and thoughts are regulated by the public interests&period; So&comma; it is the public interest that will guide and influence my decision&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As to the possibility of accommodating the out of court settlement&comma; one thing I can tell you clearly is that settlement is not right now on the table&period; it is a bridge that I like enjoy crossing when I get to it&period;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;