By Jane Okafor, Abuja
ABUJA: The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Justice John Tsoho, has reassigned the case of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, to another judge.
Kanu’s lead counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja through a statement.
The Daily Crucible reports that the embattled separatist leader had requested Justice Binta Nyako, the judge presiding over the seven-count terrorism charge brought against him by the Federal Government, to recuse herself from handling the matter any longer.
But Justice Nyako recused herself from it and transferred the case file back to the Chief Judge for reassignment, the case file was, again, reassigned to her —a move that Kanu strongly opposed.
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On February 20, Kanu, through his legal team, wrote to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, seeking her intervention in the matter.
Ejimakor noted in the statement that on Friday, March 7, the legal team received two separate letters regarding Kanu’s case.
One letter was authored by the Chief Justice of Nigeria while the other came from the Chief Judge.
The statement read, “Yesterday, 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.”
Ejimakor stated that upon receiving the letters, Kanu instructed his legal team to publicly convey his sincere gratitude to the CJN for her sound administrative discretion and the promptness with which she responded to their request.
“He also expressed his profound appreciation to members of the general public who publicly supported our righteous demands that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case be reassigned to another judge, as the law demands.
“To be clear, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has always been ready to stand trial because he is firmly convinced of his innocence. However, the perverse events of the past six months (from September 2024, when the recusal happened) posed significant dangers to his constitutional rights, particularly his right to a fair and speedy hearing. It was in light of this that we resorted to taking extraordinary measures to ensure that his case is properly reassigned and conducted by the law.
“Now that the authorities have taken the initial steps to uphold the law, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his legal team will take stock and focus on zealous preparation for his defence,,” Ejimakor stated.
