The terrorism case against the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has been reassigned to a different judge by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho.
This was made known on Saturday in a statement by Kanu’s counsel, Aloy Ejimakor.
Kanu had at the last time the court sat over the matter insisted that Justice Binta Nyako could no longer hear the matter after she had recuse herself from it.
The legal team of Kanu later wrote to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, to intervene over the matter.
According to Ejimakor, Kanu’s legal team received two official about the case from the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the Chief Judge, respectively.
He said, “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.”
He said the legal team was instructed by Kanu to express his sincere gratitude to the CJN for her sound administrative discretion and the promptness with which she responded to their request.
Adding, he said, “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,”
