Lawyers for Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, have filed a Preliminary Objection at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
They are asking the trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, to decline jurisdiction over the trial against him.
The lawyers argue that the court does not have the jurisdiction to try Kanu for the charges in Counts 1, 2, 4, 5, and 8, and they want these counts quashed. They claim the law these counts are based on is unconstitutional.
“There are two international tribunal decisions against the arrest, detention, prosecution, and trial of Kanu, which, under the Nigerian constitution, is binding on the court,” Kanu’s lawyers pointed out.
They also argue that the law under which Kanu is being tried has been repealed and is not supported by proof of evidence, calling it an abuse of the court process.
The lawyers further ask the court to decline jurisdiction on Count 15, stating it does not comply with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, is outside the court’s territorial jurisdiction, and lacks supporting evidence and legal basis.
They argue that Count 3 is unconstitutional because it seeks to punish Kanu for an act that was not a crime when it happened, and they consider this an abuse of the court process.
Earlier, on Monday, Justice Nyako dismissed Kanu’s request to restore his revoked bail and to transfer him from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) to house arrest or prison custody.
In her ruling, Justice Nyako stated, “I found as a fact that Kanu jumped the bail earlier granted him and escaped out of the country.” She also noted that the sureties who had stood for Kanu’s bail had applied to be discharged and were discharged because they could not locate Kanu and did not know his whereabouts.
Justice Nyako concluded, “The only option left for Kanu is to go to the Court of Appeal and proceed to the appellate court to exercise his right of appeal.”
