CJN Didn’t Order Nnamdi Kanu’s Release — NJC
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has refuted reports claiming that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, ordered the immediate release and repatriation of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to Kenya.
In a statement released on Thursday, the NJC dismissed the report as false and fabricated. The Council clarified that the CJN has never been involved in Kanu’s case at any level.
“The Council wishes to state that the media report is false and a figment of the imagination of the writer, as there are no court proceedings, decisions, or judgments where such statements ascribed to His Lordship were made,” the statement read.
The NJC further emphasized that the CJN did not preside over Kanu’s case at the Supreme Court nor issue any directive regarding his release.
“The Council categorically emphasizes that the Hon. CJN neither presided over any case of Kanu at the apex court, where jurisdiction issues were argued, nor made any such pronouncement. His Lordship, the Hon. CJN, never wrote any formal letter to the Kenyan Government or the Kenya High Commission apologizing for the issue of the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu and his trial.”
The NJC urged the public to disregard the false story.
Meanwhile, Nnamdi Kanu is scheduled to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday for a fresh plea in his ongoing trial for treasonable felony. His case has been reassigned to Justice James Omotosho after the previous trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, recused herself due to allegations of bias raised by Kanu.
Kanu’s lead counsel, Alloy Ejimakor, previously praised the CJN for what he described as a swift intervention in ensuring the reassignment of the case, despite initial reluctance from the Chief Judge of the High Court, Justice John Tsoho.
Kanu was first arrested in Lagos on October 14, 2015, after returning from the United Kingdom. He was granted bail on health grounds in April 2017 after spending 18 months in detention but fled the country following a military raid on his home in Umuahia, Abia State. He was re-arrested in Kenya on June 19, 2021, and was later renditioned to Nigeria on June 27, 2021. Since then, he has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
In April 2022, the trial court struck out eight of the 15 charges filed against him by the Federal Government, citing lack of substance. The Court of Appeal later ordered his release and quashed the charges in October 2022. However, the Federal Government appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court, which, on December 15, 2023, overturned the appellate court’s decision and ruled that Kanu should stand trial on the remaining seven charges.
