The special adviser on media to Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Ejimofor Opara, has criticized Peter Obi over his recent remarks concerning the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu, describing the comments as “careless and self-serving.”
Opara made his remarks known in a statement titled “One Statement Too Many — Peter Obi Slaps Finland and Nigeria’s Judiciary.”
Opara argued that the presidential flagbearer of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) comments are a direct insult to the judicial institutions of both Nigeria and Finland.
The backlash follows Obi’s recent declaration made from Maryland, USA, claiming that there is no valid justification for Kanu’s continued detention.
Opara pointed out the irony in Obi’s position, reminding the public that the former Anambra governor has historically been a significant beneficiary of the legal system.
He stated that “Peter is a product of the Nigerian Judiciary,” referencing how the courts restored Obi’s gubernatorial mandate in 2006 and intervened again in 2007 after political maneuvers threatened his office. According to Opara, Obi should be an ambassador for the judiciary rather than attacking it to pander to criminal elements, warning that “for a man going into a major election, pandering to terrorists is not an advantage.”
The Governor’s aide further emphasized that Obi’s criticism completely undermines the painstakingly transparent legal processes carried out by international and domestic courts. He noted that the judiciary intentionally permitted a live broadcast of Kanu’s final proceedings “precisely to avert careless statements like the one Obi made.”
Opara added that Obi is willing to jeopardize institutional integrity solely to advance a “futile personal ambition,” asserting that the presidential hopeful now owes an open apology to both the Nigerian judiciary and the courts in Finland.
His words, “Even if the judiciary pretends not to have seen Obi’s gaffe, history books will not forget that persons like Obi existed solely to destroy institutions and individuals who made them, just to advance a futile personal ambition. Peter owes both the Nigerian Judiciary and the courts in Finland an open apology.”
It can be recalled that in September 2025, a Finnish district court sentenced Simon Ekpa, Kanu’s protégé to six years in prison for using illegal means, weapons, and explosives to promote the independence of the purported Biafra region.
Shortly thereafter, in November 2025, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment after convicting him on seven terrorism-related charges, ruling that his broadcasts explicitly incited deadly violence against security forces and citizens in the region.
