Following the arrest of Simon Ekpa, a self-proclaimed Biafra Prime Minister, in Finland, there has been no public comment from President Bola Tinubu or his aides.
Ekpa and four others were detained in Lahti by a Finnish district court on charges of inciting terrorism in Nigeria.
Authorities claimed Ekpa used social media to promote separatist views tied to IPOB, advocating for the secession of southeastern Nigeria.
These activities reportedly began in 2021.
In addition to the incitement charges, Ekpa has previously faced scrutiny over alleged financial crimes, including fundraising through questionable means.
Despite the widespread media attention, the presidency has refrained from issuing a statement.
Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information, directed inquiries to the National Security Adviser (NSA) or the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), as they are the appropriate figures to address the matter.
Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser on Policy Communication, stated that he has not received any brief on the situation, adding that President Tinubu is abroad and has not been fully informed to form a stance on the issue.
Bwala clarified that the Foreign Affairs Ministry, through the Nigerian embassy in Finland, would likely first report the incident to the NSA or directly to the President, who would then provide a position on the matter.
He revealed that it would be premature for a spokesman to speculate without the President’s direction.
Bwala said: “You know that the role of a spokesman is to speak the mind of your principal, and you cannot preempt the principal until you hear so. For example, this event took place in Finland, so the natural thing is that probably the Embassy in Finland will brief the Foreign Affairs Office, then the Foreign Affairs Office will probably brief the National Security Adviser or the President directly, and then the President will take a position which will then give us the insight into his position on the matter, and we’ll be able to respond to the media.
“At the moment, the President is out of the country and probably must be on his way, and then there is no official statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry. So, it will amount to, I don’t want to say gaslighting. It will amount to irresponsibility for a spokesman to take a position that is not the position of his principal.
“So, maybe a little more time will help us to be able to get what the mind of the President is regarding the matter. Usually, in a situation like that, it is not even the President that immediately acts in a nation of rule of law. In a nation of rule of law, the chief law officer of the country is the attorney general.
“So, probably the Attorney-General now will be coordinating with the Foreign Affairs Ministry if there is any government decision in respect of the matter. But I think that at this moment, in my view, I might be wrong, the procedure is that the embassy, which is our foreign office there, will brief probably the Foreign Affairs Minister.
“I think the Foreign Affairs Minister also must have travelled with the President, so it is too early to give a presidential opinion on the matter.”
