*’You Can’t Try Me After Recusal’ –IPOB Leader Kanu Cites Supreme Court’s Bias Ruling
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In a dramatic turn of events during a court session on Monday, Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), discharged his legal team and chose to represent himself. Kanu, who is standing trial on charges of terrorism, expressed dissatisfaction with the Nigerian justice system, accusing it of unfair treatment.
The proceedings, which took place at the Federal High Court in Abuja, saw Kanu asking his lawyers to step aside, stating that he no longer wished to be represented by them.
According to Maxwell Opara, one of Kanu’s lawyers, the IPOB leader felt that Nigeria had not been fair to him and that his agitation for self-determination had not been addressed by the federal government.
Opara, speaking to journalists after the court session, revealed that Kanu described himself as a human rights activist fighting for the self-determination of the Igbo people. He expressed frustration that the federal government had failed to address the underlying issues fueling the agitation for Biafra.
“He feels that Nigeria is not fair to him. He’s just a human rights activist agitating for self-determination with reasons. One would expect the federal government to address those reasons that gave rise to this agitation,” Opara said.
Kanu also drew comparisons to other cases, such as that of Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), whose case was resolved through political means. He questioned why his own case had not been treated similarly, suggesting that his detention was politically motivated.
During the proceedings, Kanu reportedly used strong language and unprintable names, which his lawyers did not condone. Opara explained that when they tried to calm him down, Kanu instructed them to step aside and cease representing him.
“He asked us to sit down and walk away, saying he no longer wanted us to represent him. He decided to represent himself, even though he’s not a lawyer,” Opara said.
The court session ended abruptly, with Justice Binta Nyako adjourning the case indefinitely. Opara clarified that the adjournment was inconsequential, as the court had already lost jurisdiction over the case since September 2024, when Justice Nyako recused herself.
Opara emphasized that the defense team appeared in court under protest, out of respect for the judiciary, but maintained that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the case. He cited a subsisting court order from September 2024, which recused Justice Nyako from the case.
“The court stands recused until that order is set aside. We await the day this case will be recalendared before a new judge. We are not afraid of trial, but we are afraid of injustice,” Opara stated.
He also warned that any attempt to bring the case back before Justice Nyako would be unconstitutional and vigorously resisted by the defense team.
Opara reiterated calls for the federal government to resolve Kanu’s case through political means, similar to how other high-profile cases had been handled. He noted that many Nigerians had appealed to the government to release Kanu to foster peace in the Southeast region.
“Many people have applied to the federal government, begging them to use political means to resolve this matter. Releasing Kanu would bring peace,” Opara said.
“Meanwhile, during the court proceedings on Monday, Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), accused Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, of insisting on presiding over his trial because of ongoing corruption cases against her husband and son.”
Mr Kanu spoke on Monday when he appeared in court for his resumed trial.
A video clip that showed him making unsubstantiated accusations against the judge has been circulating on social media, mainly Facebook.
“Justice Binta Nyako is using her position for personal gain. Her son and her husband are facing corruption charges. And they (the Nigerian Government) told them (the judge and the court) that if they convict me (they will free the son and the husband).
“They (Nigerian Government) sent her to my case so they can release or smoothen the pathway for the husband and the son,” Mr Kanu said.
Although the IPOB leader did not mention details of the corruption cases or the names of the judge’s husband and son, this newspaper is aware that Murtala Nyako – the judge’s husband and son, Abdulaziz, are being prosecuted by the EFCC over allegations of fraud amounting to N29 billion.
The older Nyako, a retired admiral, was the governor of Adamawa State between 2007 and 2008 and then from 2008 to 2014 when the State House of Assembly impeached him over corruption allegations. The Court of Appeal in 2016 quashed the impeachment but declined to return him as governor, saying his tenure had elapsed.
During the court’s last hearing on 24 September 2024, Mr Kanu requested that Mrs Nyako recuse herself from presiding over the matter, accusing her of bias.
The judge subsequently announced her withdrawal from the matter, but the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court later reassigned the matter to Mrs Nyako.
Since then, Mr Kanu and his team of lawyers have repeatedly opposed Mrs Nyako from sitting over the case.
At the resumed hearing on Monday, Mr Kanu, in the clip recorded within court premises, said he had been insisting on Mrs Nyako’s recusal because the judge disobeyed a Supreme Court ruling that ordered his bail to be restored.
“There’s a breach of judicial oath. They (Mrs Nyako and the court) have violated their judicial oath (because) they have shown bias, according to the Supreme Court,” the IPOB leader said, ignoring nudges from his lawyers.
“The Supreme Court said you’re biased. You’re against me. You should not have my bail. The Nigerian Government went to Kenya and kidnapped me. These things are in the public domain. Why, therefore, are they insisting on trying me?” he stated.
“A court order was entered. In that very court order, it was said very clearly and succinctly that she (Mrs Nyako) is no more going to try me. Why are they insisting, I ask? Because they have no case against me and they know it.”
Mr Kanu, at the court, also faulted the chief judge of the Federal High Court for reassigning his case to Mrs Nyako despite her recusal.
“The prosecution and this court don’t know the law, and that’s the fact. Poor knowledge of the law is killing Nigeria,” he began.
Pulling out hard copies of a paper, he said, “This is a federal gazetted law of Nigeria that says here that the chief judge of Nigeria cannot tell Binta Nyako what to do.
“It is here. It is your law. Just obey it.”
Mr Kanu said he would no longer recognise whatever Mrs Nyako says because she has no “jurisdiction” to preside over his case.
“She stands recused from my case and cannot try me. I came here (in the court) out of courtesy and respect,” he said.
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The IPOB leader said he is agitating for Biafra’s independence from Nigeria because he has the right to do so.
Mr Kanu was first arrested in 2015 under the administration of former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on 13 October 2022, held that the IPOB leader was extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria and that the action violated the country’s extradition treaty and also a breach of his fundamental human rights.
The court, therefore, struck out the terrorism charges filed against Mr Kanu by the Nigerian government and ordered his release from the facility of the State Security Service
But the government refused to release the IPOB leader, insisting that he (Kanu) could be unavailable in subsequent court proceedings if released and that his release would cause insecurity in the South-east, where he comes from.
The government, through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, later appealed the court ruling and subsequently obtained an order staying the execution of the court judgement at the Supreme Court.
Delivering judgement on the appeal on 15 December 2023, the Supreme Court reversed the acquittal granted to Mr Kanu by the lower court and consequently ordered the continuation of his trial at the Federal High Court Abuja.
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