Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court (FHC) in Abuja has fixed 21 March for the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to begin.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reliably gathered on Wednesday that Mr Omotosho fixed the date after the case file was transferred to him.
Mr Kanu, who was repatriated to Nigeria from Kenya in June 2021 under controversial circumstances, is expected to take his plea as the case begins afresh.
NAN reports that the Chief Judge (CJ) of FHC, Justice John Tsoho, had, in a letter dated 4 March and addressed to Mr Kanu’s lead counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, communicated the re-assignment of the case from Justice Binta Nyako to Mr Omotosho.
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The re-assignment followed Mr Kanu’s demand for the transfer of the seven-count terrorism charge to another judge after alleging bias.
Mrs Nyako recused herself from the case on 24 September 2024 and sent the case file to the chief judge of the FHC for re-assignment.
The judge said she could not proceed with a trial where a defendant lacked confidence in the court.
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However, the chief judge returned Mr Kanu’s case file to Mrs Nyako for adjudication, insisting that the defence must formally apply for the recusal.
But on 10 February, Mr Kanu, through his lawyer, Mr Ejimakor, insisted that Mrs Nyako no longer had jurisdiction to preside over the case after her recusal, prompting the judge to adjourn the case indefinitely.
NAN reports that Justice Ahmed Mohammed (elevated to Appeal Court) and Mr Tsoho (before becoming the CJ) had presided over Mr Kanu’s trial before it was assigned to Mrs Nyako, following the defendant’s rejection of the two judges.
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