The Supreme Court has set a deadline of December 15 for it to rule on the appeal filed by the impeached Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, in which he asks that the Federal Government free him from custody.Read full article
After the attorneys for the FG and the arrested IPOB leader adopted their last briefs of argument, a five-judge panel of the supreme court, presided over by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, gave the case the go-ahead for a ruling.
While the Federal Government was represented by a legal team under the direction of Mr. T. A. Gazzali, SAN, the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Kanu Agabi, SAN, led Kanu's legal team.
Kanu requested that the court award "very heavy and punitive costs" against the FG in addition to ordering his immediate release from custody through one of his legal counsel, Prof. Mike Ozehkome, SAN.
We urge my lords to uphold our Cross-Appeal in order to do substantial justice to this matter and to the Respondent who has been in detention since June 29, 2021, even after the lower court ordered his release and that he should never be prosecuted again on the same counts. They are still holding him unconstitutionally. We pray my lords to deliver justice and use this case, just like in Ojukwu Vs State, to demonstrate that no man or government should be above the law,” Ozehkome, SAN, pleaded
FG's attorney, Gazzali, SAN, however, urged the top court to uphold the revised brief of argument he submitted on May 3, 2023 in his submission.
He requested that the court grant FG's appeal, vacate the Court of Appeal's decision ordering Kanu's freedom, and instruct the Federal High Court in Abuja to resume his prosecution on terrorism-related charges.
You may recall that the Court of Appeal in Abuja ordered Kanu's release from custody in a ruling it issued on October 13, 2022. The appellate court similarly rejected a 15-count terrorism charge that the FG brought against the arrested IPOB leader before the Federal High Court in Abuja, in a unanimous ruling by a three-member panel.
The court declared itself satisfied that when FG forcibly extradited Kanu from Kenya to the country to continue his prosecution, it acted in flagrant violation of all recognised laws. It was decided that the trial court lacked the authority to continue Kanu's trial due to the Nigerian government's arbitrary use of power.
FG, however, appealed the case to the Supreme Court after being unhappy with the verdict. Additionally, it convinced the appellate court to halt the judgment's execution while the appeal was being heard.