Nnamdi Kanu, detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has asked that his case be transferred to the South-east if no judge at the Federal High Court in Abuja is willing to preside over it.
Mr Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, disclosed this in a statement posted on his X handle on Wednesday.
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The IPOB leader, facing terrorism charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja, has been in detention since he was repatriated to Nigeria from Kenya in June 2021 under controversial circumstances.
The recusal
During trial on 24 September 2024, Mr Kanu requested that Justice Binta Nyako recuse herself from the matter, accusing the judge of bias.
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The IPOB leader argued that Mrs Nyako disobeyed a Supreme Court ruling that ordered him to be granted bail.
The judge consequently announced her withdrawal from the matter and referred the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho.
But Mr Tsoho later reassigned the case to Justice Nyako despite her recusal.
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The IPOB leader and his legal team have consistently opposed Justice Nyako from presiding over the case since she recused herself.
‘Disobeying your own orders’
Mr Ejimakor said in the statement that Mr Kanu instructed him and other legal team members to prevent Justice Nyako from presiding over his trial.
The special counsel said the IPOB leader gave the instruction when his legal team visited him at the facility of the State Security Service (SSS) on Wednesday.
He explained that Mr Kanu’s instruction followed the recusal of Mrs Nyako from the case on 24 September 2024.
“The central issue arising at today’s (Wednesday) visitation is the upcoming court date for the continuation of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case,” Mr Ejimakor began.
Continuing, the special counsel said: “Due to its constitutional implications, Onyendu (Kanu) instructed the legal team to take certain prompt steps to ensure that his case is not handled by the same Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako, who had withdrawn from the case by virtue of the order of recusal entered on 24th September 2024.
“The point was stressed that should the case still lie with Justice Murtala-Nyako, it would mean that the same court is disobeying an order that it made.”
Mr Ejimakor said Mr Kanu has now asked that the case be moved to any Federal High Court in the South-east or South-south if judges in Abuja are unwilling to preside over it.
“If no other judge in Abuja is willing to handle the case, the chief judge is free to transfer the case to Umuahia, Awka, Enugu, Asaba, Port Harcourt, or any other Federal High Court within the former Eastern Nigeria, where the alleged offenses were said to have occurred or had their impact,” he stated.
Background
Mr Kanu was first arrested in 2015 under the administration of former Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on 13 October 2022, held that the IPOB leader was extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria and that the action was a flagrant violation of the country’s extradition treaty and also a breach of his fundamental human rights.
The court, therefore, struck out the terrorism charges filed against Mr Kanu by the Nigerian government and ordered his release from the facility of the SSS.
But the government refused to release the IPOB leader, insisting that he (Kanu) could be unavailable in subsequent court proceedings if released and that his release would cause insecurity in the South-east, where he comes from.
READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu protests court order against his release
The government, through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, later appealed the court ruling and subsequently obtained an order staying the execution of the court judgement at the Supreme Court.
Delivering judgement on the appeal on 15 December 2023, the Supreme Court reversed the acquittal granted to Mr Kanu by the lower court and consequently ordered continuation of his trial at the Federal High Court Abuja.
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