Ike Ekweremadu’s transfer to Nigerian prison will boost Tinubu’s 2027 re-election victory

Leaders of top groups in the South-East have expressed dissatisfaction with the federal government’s move to transfer former Senate Deputy President, Senator Ike Ekwemadu, from a correctional facility in the United Kingdom to a Nigerian detention centre.

While some have questioned the plan, which they say is aimed at boosting President Bola Tinubu’s re-election chances in 2027, others say the motive does not matter.

The embattled senator was convicted of organ trafficking in the UK.

In June 2022, Ekwemadu and his wife Beatrice were arrested by the Metropolitan Police after a man presented himself as the cousin of their daughter Sonia in an attempt to obtain a kidney transplant for her.

The incident led to their convictions under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act in 2023.

Ekwemadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, while his wife was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

Beatrice was released earlier this year and has since returned to Nigeria.

However, President Bola Tinubu sent a high-level delegation to London to discuss the case of the former Deputy Senate President.

PUNCH Online reports that the federal government is seeking arrangements to allow Ekweremadu to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.

A delegation led by Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tugar and Federal Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi met with officials from the UK Ministry of Justice to discuss Ekwemadu’s imprisonment and the possibility of allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.