By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has made the case for the release of political prisoners being held by the federal and state governments in the spirit of Nigeria’s 60th Independence Day celebration.
Atiku, who also was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general election, said President Muhammadu Buhari and the governors holding political prisoners should learn from Mandela who, instead of fighting those that jailed him for 27 years, reconciled with them.
The federal government is currently prosecuting convener of the Revolution Now protest, Omoyele Sowore for treason.
In the states, the Cross River State government is pushing a treason charge against activist, Agba Jalingo.
The Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has been separately prosecuting at least 10 Nigerians for expressing disagreement with the government via their social media pages. The governor said the comments amounted to incitement.
But Atiku counselled, “In the spirit of our 60th Independence anniversary, I call on the federal government and state governments to release all political prisoners and detainees, and discontinue prosecution of such individuals. If Nelson Mandela could reconcile with those who imprisoned him for 27 years, we can reconcile with those who have disagreed with us,” he said.