Anthony Iwuoma
Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Counsel to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, on Friday said the pro-Biafra agitator no longer has any case to answer.
Ejiofor also called on the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), to consider voluntary resignation of exposing the Federal Government to international embarrassment and ridicule.
He advised the AGF to immediately comply with the order of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which set Kanu free.
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In a statement by the Special Assistant (Media and Public Relations) to the AGF, Dr. Umar Gwandu, the AGF had claimed that the charges against Kanu were only dismissed but Kanu was not acquitted, especially for his offences allegedly committed before he jumped bail.
Malami had said that the Federal Government was considering the options, including going on with the pending counts against Nnamdi Kanu before the invasion of his house by the military on September 14, 2017, which forced him to jump bail and escape.
However, as far as Ejiofor is concerned, the reference by the AGF to the charge pending against Kanu before he left Nigeria in 2017 and the hint that the Federal Government may continue with the charge showed Malami’s total disconnect with the law, with the greatest respect to his office, adding that the AGF “should be appropriately guided in law.”
“I implore him to meticulously read the full judgment of the Court of Appeal, immediately comply with orders made therein and possibly consider the most appropriate option of voluntarily resigning, for exposing the Federal Government to this international embarrassment and ridicule” Ejiofor said.
“Now, for the avoidance of doubt, the Federal Government has no options. It has only one option, namely, to appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. And the exercise of this later option shall not constitute a bar to immediate compliance with the order of the Court of Appeal, which directed for the immediate and unconditional release of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
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“The order made by the Learned Justices of the Court of Appeal is sacrosanct and must be obeyed immediately without further ado.
“Further, the Attorney General of the Federation reference to the charge pending against Onyendu before he left Nigeria in 2017, and the indication that the Federal Government may continue with the charge really shows his total disconnect with the law, with greatest respect to his office.”
A three-man panel if the Appeal Court, Abuja Division, had dismissed the remaining seven charges, bordering on terrorism preferred against Kanu by the Federal Government.
In an earlier ruling of, of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Binta Nyako in April dismissed eight of the 15 amended counts filed against him Kanu.
In the Thursday judgment, the Court of Appeal panel led by Jummai Sankey struck out all remaining charges against Kanu, as canvassed by the IPOB leader, ruling that the lower court “lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.”
The court also held that Kanu’s extradition from Kenya in June 2021 to Nigeria without following the extradition rules violately violated Nigeria’s extradition treaty breached the IPOB leader’s fundamental human rights.