Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has lamented what he called “strange delay” in transmitting his case file from the Supreme Court to the Federal High Court.
Recall that the apex court had on December 15, 2023, refused to affirm earlier court judgments ordering Kanu’s unconditional release, but ruled that he could be arraigned before the Federal High Court to answer to counts of charge against him.
Kanu who spoke through his Special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, expressed displeasure over the delays.
Ejimakor in a statement said the IPOB Leader condemned the development when he visited him Monday at the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Services, DSS.
The statement made available to Ikengaonline read: “My routine visitation with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu today (8th January 2024) at the DSS in Abuja, our discussion centered mainly on the persisting failure of the Supreme Court to enroll its 15th December 2023 judgment on Kanu’s case and transmission of the case file to the Federal High Court, as was ordered by the court on said 15th December.
“This delay is unusual and thus unacceptable to Mazi Kanu and he strongly condemns it.
“In a case where Kanu has been in detention (for two and half years) and it is in public and judicial knowledge that he is grievously ill, one would expect that it should not take almost one month to certify the judgment and transmit the case file to the Federal High Court. And from what we are hearing, it might as well take over month.
“Contrast this with Election Petition cases where judgments are readied and certified in as little as a day or two and made available to parties.
“In particular, given the fact that Kanu’s case cannot go forward without his case file being physically transmitted to the Federal High Court and the judgment thereof certified, any prolongation of taking these steps becomes legally injurious to Kanu, as he continues to be detained without any immediate prospects of trial and exoneration.”
The statement strongly urged the judicial and administrative leadership of the Supreme Court to take prompt steps to transmit Kanu’s file to the Federal High Court and make certified true copies of the judgment available to his Lawyers.
“This is what the justice of the case demands at this point in time,” the statement added.
