The embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu has applied to the Federal High Court in Abuja to transfer his trial to the South-East.
Kanu based his application in pursuant to Order 49, Rule 3 of Federal High Court Rules 2019 and Section 45 of the Federal High Court Act.
The application signed by Kanu’s lead Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor was addressed to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja and dated January 30, 2025.
He said on 24th September 2024, Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako of the Abuja Federal High Court entered an order recusing himself from handling this case.
He said her recusal followed Kanu’s demand that she step down from his case due to law of confidence in her handling of the trial.
According to Ejimakor: “We are Solicitors-of-Record to the Defendant, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu (hereafter: our Client/Defendant) in the above-captioned matter.
“Pursuant to Order 49, Rule 3 of Federal High Court Rules 2019 and Section 45 of the Federal High Court Act, we hereby humbly apply for transfer of this matter from the Abuja division of the Federal High Court to any division of the Court in the Southeast. Our Application is grounded on the following:
“On 24th September 2024, Honorable Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako entered an Order recusing himself from handling this case, pursuant to an oral application made by the Defendant in open court. The said Order is hereby attached and marked as Annexure 1.
“We are reliably informed that, following the said recusal, Justice Murtala-Nyako promptly sent the case file to Your Lordship for the purpose of reassigning it to another Judge of the same Abuja division of the Federal High Court.
“However, it came to pass that Your Lordship was unable to reassign the case to another Judge of the Abuja division because none of Their Lordships (in the Abuja division) agreed to take the case, thus leading to the situation where Your Lordship has now sent the case back to Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako, from whose Court we received a hearing notice setting the matter down for hearing before His Lordship on 10th February 2025. See Annexure 2.
“Your Lordship, we are minded to hereby protest sending this case file back to Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako because His Lordship no longer has jurisdiction as he stands recused by virtue of the subsisting Order that His Lordship had made and enrolled under his hand.
“Given that no other Judge in the Abuja division is willing to take the case, the only option left is to transfer the case to any division of the Federal High Court in the Southeast geopolitical zone, especially since the offenses are alleged to have had impact in Southeast (and not Abuja), which thus gives the Southeast divisions a far superior jurisdiction than any other division, including Abuja.
“This also accords with Order 49, Rule 3 of Federal High Court Rules 2019, Section 45 of the Federal High Court Act and the case of IBORI vs. FRN (2009)3 NWLR (pt.1128) 283.
“For the forgoing reasons, we respectfully request that our humble application be considered and granted before the hearing scheduled for 10th February, 2025 in order to prevent a grave miscarriage of justice to the Defendant.”