The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra has filed a legal application requesting the Court of Appeal in Abuja to prevent the Federal High Court from proceeding with judgment in his terrorism trial.
Justice James Omotosho, presiding over the terrorism case, had scheduled judgment for November 20 after making the announcement on November 7.
The request comes through a new motion on notice filed personally by Nnamdi Kanu, the self-proclaimed leader of IPOB, which has been proscribed by the government. In the application, he is asking the appellate court to halt further proceedings in the charges pending against him at the Federal High Court.
The motion is based on the fact that Kanu has already filed a notice of appeal challenging Justice Omotosho’s September 26 ruling. That ruling had rejected his no case submission and directed him to present a defense against the terrorism accusations.
Kanu argues that the Federal High Court made an error in dismissing his no case submission without properly examining jurisdictional matters and the validity of the charges brought against him.
Among his contentions, he maintains that the lower court wrongly upheld the charges because the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act has been repealed, meaning there are no valid charges against him.
He also contends that constitutional questions regarding jurisdiction were not addressed by the judge in the ruling on the no case submission.
The basis for the motion includes the argument that Justice Omotosho failed to properly assess the evidence presented by prosecution witnesses and the cross-examination testimony to determine whether the evidence had been undermined.
“That he sought to call 23 witnesses only when the issue of jurisdiction had been determined, but which the court refused to do and stated that such would be done in the final judgment,” the motion states.
“That the Judge foreclosed his right to defend himself from the charges while refusing to rule on his objections to the validity of some of the counts in the charges,” it adds.
Kanu warned that without the Court of Appeal granting his request to stop the judgment, he risks unlawful conviction and imprisonment.
Additionally, he expressed concern that if the November 20 judgment proceeds, his appeal against the no case submission would lose practical significance, creating a situation where the Court of Appeal would face a concluded matter.
The separatist leader argued that granting the application would not cause harm to either himself or the Federal High Court.
In a 13-paragraph affidavit supporting the motion, Kanu addressed the matter of non-compliance with a Supreme Court order concerning the validity of count 7 in the charges, as well as the alleged failure to apply the required test under section 303 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.
He stated that the Supreme Court has clarified that count 7 no longer constitutes an offense in Nigeria, as it has allegedly been repealed.
In the affidavit he personally swore to, he asserted that his pending appeal against the no case submission involves significant, complex, and constitutional legal questions.
He specifically claimed that counts 1 to 6 in the charges are based on legislation that has been repealed, and therefore there are no valid charges against him.
The Court of Appeal has not yet scheduled a hearing date for the motion on notice.
