EXCLUSIVE: Judge reaccepts Nnamdi Kanu’s case weeks after stepping down

A Federal High Court judge in Abuja, Binta Nyako, has reaccepted the treasonable felony case involving Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), after withdrawing from it last month, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

Court sources, who have been briefed on the matter, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mrs Nyako may resume sitting on the matter anytime soon, barring any unforeseen developments.

This comes less than three weeks after Mr Kanu, who has been facing charges arising from his separatist activities for secession of a Republic of Biafra from Nigeria since 2015, pressured Mrs Nyako to recuse herself from the nine-year-old case.

The 24 September proceedings took a dramatic turn when Mr Kanu defied the norm of courtroom decorum to break in on a rambling back-and-forth argument between the bar and the bench.

He shouted his lawyer down and asked the judge to withdraw from the case.

“Sit down! I say you should sit down!” Mr Kanu yelled from the dock at his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, and turned to the judge, to express his lack of confidence in the court.

“I am asking you to recuse yourself from this case,” he told the judge, who he accused of disobeying a Supreme Court judgement admonishing that his rights should be respected while facing trial.

Despite the prosecuting lawyer Adegboyega Awomolo’s efforts to persuade the judge to continue hearing the case, Mrs Nyako announced her decision to recuse herself. “I hereby recuse myself and remit the case file back to the Chief Judge,” she ruled.

Reason case is returning to Nyako

However, PREMIUM TIMES learnt on Thursday that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, has directed Mrs Nyako to resume sitting on the case to allow Mr Kanu’s lawyer, Mr Ejimakor, to file an application laying the grounds for the judge’s recusal.

“The Chief Judge’s directive to Justice Nyako is to enable her to hear Nnamdi Kanu’s written application seeking her withdrawal from the case,” a source said.

Other sources disclosed that Mr Kanu’s lawyer, Mr Ejimakor, has been asked to file the recusal application on the federal government lawyer, Mr Awomolo, a SAN, to elicit the prosecution’s response to the request.

“Bringing the two parties before Justice Nyako would allow the judge to examine the basis of the application for her recusal and give a ruling on whether to continue to adjudicate on the suit or not,” a source explained.

However, in separate telephone interviews with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, Messrs Ejimakor and Awomolo said they were yet to receive any communication from the court regarding the withdrawal application.

“I have not received any official communication from the court concerning the Chief Judge’s directive to Justice Nyako’s withdrawal from the case,” Mr Ejimakor said.

Meanwhile, our reporter confirmed that the arrangement to have Mrs Nyako take a decision on her status in the case based on a formal application is the reason why the Chief Judge has yet to reassign the case to a new judge.

The situation, our reporter learned, reflects the Chief Judge’s dilemma in reassigning the matter, which has already passed through four judges since it began in 2015.

Turbulent history

In its turbulent nine-year history at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the case has been hampered by legal maneuvering, making the rounds of courtrooms overseen by different judges, resulting in both brief and protracted breaks that have stifled any meaningful progress.

Mr Tsoho, today’s Chief judge of the Federal High Court, is one of the judges that have handled the trial. Mr Tsoho, just like the one before him, Ahmed Mohammed, quitted the case after Mr Kanu expressed lack of confidence in him.

Before Mr Mohammed, now of the Court of Appeal, Mr Adeniyi Ademola, now retired, handled the case briefly.

Mrs Nyako, who took over the case in late 2016, has presided over it longer than any of the previous judges.

Mr Kanu who leads separatist campaigns for the secession of five Southeastern states and parts of some neighbouring states as Biafra Republic from Nigeria, is being prosecuted by the federal government over allegations of inciting violence and secessionist agitation.

He has been detained by the State Security Service (SSS) in Abuja since his forcible repatriation from Kenya in June 2021 to continue his trial before Mrs Nyako after he jumped bail when Nigerian soldiers invaded Mr Kanu’s ancestral home in Abia State in 2017.

The SSS has been detaining Mr Kanu, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom, over charges of treasonable felony arising from his separatist campaigns for the secession of independent Biafra from Nigeria.

His trial started in 2015 and was stalled after he fled the country on being granted bail in 2017.

He was re-arrested in Kenya in June 2021 to continue his trial. Mrs Nyako ordered his remand in SSS custody throughout his trial.

Mrs Nyako’s abrupt withdrawal means the case will have to start afresh before a new judge.

The development worsens the uncertainties and delays that have defined the case, which has lingered for nine years without significant progress.