In a book recently unveiled by his former spokesperson, Femi Adesina, Mr Buhari was quoted as telling Igbo leaders that incarcerating Mr Kanu was a favour done to the IPOB leader instead of eliminating him.
Obi Aguocha, a member of the House of Representatives, has slammed former President Muhammadu Buhari over a comment credited to him on the incarcerated leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Mr Buhari's former spokesperson, Femi Adesina, in his new book recently unveiled, had quoted the former president as saying bringing Mr Kanu back to face trial in Nigeria was a favour.
Mr Adesina, in his book titled "Working with Buhari: Reflections of A Special Adviser, Media and Publicity (2015-2023)", narrated how a group known as Highly-Respected Igbo Greats, led by Mbazulike Ameachi, first republic minister of aviation, pleaded with the former president to release Mr Kanu.
In the excerpt from the book, Mr Buhari was quoted to have told his guests that incarcerating Mr Kanu was a favour compared to the alternative.
"I feel it is a favour to give him (Kanu) that opportunity. The government could have mobilised to eliminate him where he was, but we did not do that.
"You have made an extremely difficult demand on me as the leader of this country. The implication of your request is very serious. In the last six years, nobody will say I have confronted the judiciary," Mr Buhari was quoted to have said.
Reacting to the comments, Mr Aguocha, who represents Umuahia North/Umuahia South/Ikwuano Federal Constituency of Abia State, where Mr Kanu hails from, in a statement on Monday, condemned the former president, stating that suggesting that the elimination of a citizen was an option, even in retrospect, is alarming and raises serious questions about the commitment to the rule of law and human rights.
He said in a democratic society, it is fundamental that all individuals, irrespective of their actions or positions, are treated according to the law.
"The suggestion of 'elimination' as a viable option undermines the principles of justice and due process," he said.
Mr Aguocha said leaders must adhere to and promote these values, ensuring that all actions, especially those concerning life and liberty, are grounded in legality and respect for human rights.
"The Supreme Court of Nigeria, in its recent judgment, roundedly condemned Buhari's government, the attack on the home of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and also his rendition from Kenya.
"For the former president to summarily suggest that being subjected to such illegality was a favour for a citizen is totally reckless and reeks of all things personal vendetta, and so far from the high standards of civility expected from a leader.
"President Buhari should rather come clean by confessing all he used his office to do to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the South-east. Nobody, including Femi Adesina and his principal, should play God in respect of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
"There is obviously an inordinate obsession in the former president seeing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in detention because of his personal prejudice. The Buhari government failed and or refused to obey all the orders in favour of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu granted by courts of competent jurisdiction. So that any remark suggesting that Buhari rather than eliminate Mazi Nnamdi Kanu preferred that the matter be determined by the courts is an attempt to launder the image of an oppressor into a benevolent president," he said.
The legislator said the detention of Mr Kanu confirms the hatred of the former President to the people of South-east.
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"The president only used the judicial system to victimise Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the South-east. Otherwise, why couldn't the government establish a crime by providing credible evidence in court against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for all the years? By the way, wasn't it the failed attempt at eliminating Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in his village that forced the gentleman to escape from Nigeria?
"Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a victim of President Buhari's ill will and hatred against the 'Dot' people," he said.
The IPOB leader has been in and out of detention in Nigeria since 2015, the fallout of his run-in with the Nigerian government over his separatist campaigns.
He and his IPOB, already designated as a terrorist organisation in Nigeria, are seeking the secession of an independent Biafra nation, comprising most of the areas of the old Eastern Region.
