•Nnamdi Kanu in court with his lawyers
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Justice John Tsoho, has reassigned the case against the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, to another judge for trial.
Kanu, who has been in detention since 2021 when his bail was revoked, is facing a seven-count treasonable felony charge the federal government preferred against him, reports Saturday Vanguard.
Justice Binta Nyako, who hitherto presided over the case, had on February 10 adjourned it sine die (indefinitely) following the IPOB leader’s insistence that she must hand off his trial on grounds of bias and a previous ruling that recused her from the matter.
Even though the Chief Judge initially dismissed Kanu’s contention and directed Justice Nyako to continue the case, the defence counsel, Mr Alloy Ejimakor, in a statement on Saturday, disclosed that his client’s request has been finally granted.
While expressing Kanu’s readiness to face his trial so as to establish his innocence, Ejimakor commended the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, for her quick intervention.
He said: “Yesterday (Friday) before the legal team conducted our routine visitation to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, we received two separate official letters regarding his case. The letters are momentous and somewhat pyrrhic.
“One letter was from the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria, responding to a recent letter we had written to her, seeking her prompt administrative intervention (as the administrative head of the Nigerian judiciary) on the matter of a proper and lawful reassignment of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case, following the recusal of the judge that was conducting it.
“The other letter was from the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, informing us that the case has been reassigned to another Judge of the Federal High Court.
“Consequent upon these latest developments, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu instructed the legal team to publicly convey his sincere gratitude to the Chief Justice of Nigeria for her sound administrative discretion and the despatch with which she responded to our request.
“He also expressed his profound appreciation to members of the general public who publicly expressed their support of our righteous demands that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case be reassigned to another judge, as the law demands.
“To be sure, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has always been ready to take his trial because he is firmly convinced of his innocence. But the perverse events of the past six months (from September 2024, when the recusal happened) posed portent dangers to his constitutional rights, particularly his right to a fair and speedy hearing.
“It was in view of these untoward developments that we were propelled to resort to taking extraordinary measures to ensure that his case is properly reassigned and conducted in accordance with the law.
“So, now that the first steps have been taken by the authorities to do the lawful thing, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his legal team shall take stock and hunker down to the zealous preparation of his defence.”
However, Ejimakor declined to disclose the name of the new judge the case has been assigned to.
It will be recalled that Kanu was first arrested in Lagos on October 14, 2015, upon his return to the country from the United Kingdom, UK.
Justice Nyako had, on April 25, 2017, granted him bail on health grounds after he had spent about 18 months in detention.
Upon the perfection of the bail conditions, he was, on April 28, 2017, released from the Kuje prison.
However, midway into the trial, the IPOB leader escaped from the country after soldiers invaded his country home at Afara Ukwu Ibeku in Umuahia, Abia State, an operation that led to the death of some of his followers.
Kanu was later re-arrested in Kenya on June 19, 2021, and extraordinarily renditioned back to the country by security agents on June 27, 2021.
Following the development, the trial court, on June 29, 2021, remanded him in custody of DSS, where he remained to date.
On April 8, 2022, the court struck out eight out of the 15-count charge that FG preferred against him on the premise that they lacked substance.
Likewise, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, on October 13, 2022, ordered Kanu’s immediate release from detention even as it quashed the charge against him.
Dissatisfied with the decision, FG took the matter before the Supreme Court, even as it persuaded the appellate court to suspend the execution of the judgement, pending the determination of its appeal.
While deciding the appeal, the Supreme Court, on December 15, 2023, vacated the judgement of the appellate court and gave FG the nod to try the IPOB leader on the subsisting seven-count charge.
