A coalition of pan-Igbo rights activists, The Rising Sun Group, has publicly accused the Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, of exploiting the contentious legal plight of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu as a political tool to seek influence with President Bola Tinubu.
The conflict stems from Kalu’s recent interview on Channels Television, where the former Abia State Governor asserted that Kanu’s agitation was responsible for the death of 30,000 people in the South-East. During the interview, Kalu also claimed to be making serious efforts to secure Kanu’s release from detention, while reacting to the life sentence handed down to Kanu for terrorism by Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja Federal High Court.
In a scathing statement released on Wednesday the 26th of November, 2025, its coordinators, Maxwell Dede and Reverend Father Augustine Odinmegwa, the Rising Sun Group disputed Kalu’s claims. The group alleged that the senator is part of an Igbo elite cohort willing to adopt any political stance to advance their personal interests, insisting that Kalu should have remained silent if he had nothing constructive to contribute, rather than appearing to justify what they view as Kanu’s persecution.
The activists expressed their deep indignation: “Our attention has been drawn to Sunday’s interview by the Senator representing Abia North, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, on Channels TV, where he claimed that over 30,000 people had died due to the agitation by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The former Abia Governor also during the interview, defended Justice James Omotosho over his infamous verdict on Kanu.
The statement continued, noting Kalu’s commentary on the verdict: “Instead of keeping quiet if he had nothing useful to say, Senator Kalu chose to lambast Nnamdi Kanu over his angry reaction to the barefaced injustice meted to him by Justice Omotosho. As if that were not enough, Senator Kalu began to make wild claims of his purported instrumentality in securing Kanu’s release in 2017. He also disparaged the Igbo and all those who felt disappointed over the said judgement which can only pass for travesty of justice.
The activists were not surprised by Kalu’s remarks, asserting: “Although we are embittered at such reckless remarks, we are however, not surprised because we know that a leopard can never change the colour of its skin. Senator Kalu only confirmed the long-held suspicion in many quarters that he is among the Igbo elite ready to play any role because of political interest.
The core of the group’s accusation is that Kalu is cynically using Kanu’s case to secure political favour.
“But what Ndigbo will not accept from Orji Uzor Kalu is any attempt to use Kanu’s matter to curry favour from the Presidency. He is only smart by half for thinking that he could resort to unguarded utterances and reckless vituperation against the IPOB leader in order to win Tinubu’s favour, possibly for a return ticket in 2027.
Rising Sun pointed to Kalu’s past political actions as evidence of his motivation: “It is an open secret that Orji Uzor Kalu was among those who vigorously opposed Tinubu’s presidential bid in 2023, when he openly campaigned for the then Senate President, Ahmed Lawan. Nigerians are not daft as Senator Kalu thinks. They already know the real motive behind his sudden love for President Tinubu.”
The activists added that Kalu insulted the Igbo people by comparing his own composure during his trial for alleged financial fraud to Nnamdi Kanu’s “alleged unruly behaviour” in court. They stressed that Kalu should clearly understand that there is no connection between the offence for which he was convicted and jailed, “and the trumped-up charges, biased trial, of subsequent strange conviction of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu: IPOB Rejects Life Sentence, Says ‘Agitation Not Crime’
Challenging the senator to prove his commitment, Rising Sun questioned why Kalu, who they described as Tinubu’s political age-mate, has failed to broker a political solution to Kanu’s case, despite his purported efforts. The group issued a direct challenge for the senator to ‘do the needful’: “If he believes he has the powers and influence to get Kanu’s debacle resolved politically, what is restraining him from doing so all the while? As a chieftain of the ruling party, former Governor and political age-mate of President Ahmed Tinubu, Orji Uzor Kalu should not be waiting for anybody again to lead the move for political solution for Kanu’s release. He has unfettered access to the powers that be, and should leverage on that to do the needful,” the statement said.
The Rising Sun Group further disputed Kalu’s claim of 30,000 deaths, demanding that he account for the source of the killings: “Since Orji Uzor Kalu claims that over 30,000 people were killed in South-East as a result of the agitation by Nnamdi Kanu, can he tell the world who authorized the said killings?
They accused Kalu of ignoring security agency abuses: “Will Senator Kalu feign ignorance of the genocidal killing of IPOB members by security agencies without any provocations? Was he referring to the massacre of IPOB members praying at Nkpor and Onitsha or those praying at the National High School Aba, or Biafra agitators massacred in Port Harcourt during a pro-Trump rally? How could Orji Uzor Kalu justifiably blame IPOB members who are rather the hapless victims of the brutality of security operatives for an offence they are innocent of?
The statement concluded with a final warning: “We want to warm him to desist from using Nnamdi Kanu’s matter to play politics,” and “We warn Orji Uzor Kalu and his fellow political opportunists to refrain from further unguarded and treacherous remarks concerning Kanu’s ordeal. History will judge anyone who betrays his people for selfish gains.