Victor EzejaBarrister Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, and Chief Goddy Uwazurike, former President of Igbo think tank group, known as Ikenga, have faulted the position of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami on the Appeal Court judgement of the case against Kanu.
The appellate court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, held that the “Federal Government flagrantly violated the law when it forcefully renditioned Kanu from Kenya to the country for the continuation of his trial and that such extra-ordinary rendition, without adherence to due process of the law, was a gross violation of all international conventions, protocols and guidelines that Nigeria is a signatory to, as well as a breach of the Appellant’s fundamental human rights.”
Malami had, however, shortly after the Appeal Court ruling, issued a statement through his media aide Dr Umar Gwandu, wherein he said that the court only discharged Kanu but did not acquit him.
The AGF said that the appellate court only ruled on the issue bordering on Kanu’s rendition from Kenya, adding that there were other pending pre-rendition cases against him.
Reacting to Malami’s comment on the judgement, Ejimakor in a chat with Prime Business Africa stated that the AGF is “flatly wrong and it is perverse to the boot.”
Ejimakor stated that it would amount to “burgeoning holding charge” if the Nigerian government refuses or delays release of Kanu solely because it wants to levy further charges against him which is not allowed in the extant laws of the country.
He further argued that no new charges can be preferred against Kanu “because, in the present circumstance, the extraordinary rendition is an abiding factor that has created a permanent barrier to his prosecution.”
“Keep in mind,” he added, “that the extant trial of Kanu could never have proceeded had he not been illegally renditioned. So, it is not legally possible to lose jurisdiction in the extant charges and at once obtain jurisdiction in the next round of charges.
“The judgment of the Court of Appeal has therefore grandfathered a continuing lack of prosecutorial jurisdiction that will, in the interim, be very hard to overcome.”
He told Prime Business Africa that “before the levying of any new charges can have a toga of legality or chances of conferring prosecutorial jurisdiction, Kanu has to be released first. Anything to the contrary will be nugatory.”
On his part, Chief Goddy Uwazurike a senior lawyer, expressed shock that the AGF who is also the Minister for Justice would resort to “mischievously distinguishing between discharged and acquitted,” given the weight of his office.
Uwazurike said such position taken by Malami “virtually left many of us dumbfounded.”
He explained that Kanu had been facing trial at the High Court in which some charges were at some point struck out during amendment and with the Appeal Court ruling on Thursday, it means the IPOB leader has no more charges pending against him.
“Nnamdi Kanu was facing trial until yesterday (Thursday) at the Federal High Court. The charges had been amended. And Nnamdi Kanu challenged the entire charges, said Uwazurike
“You know one thing about amendment is that when you amend, you throw away the existing charge, that is law, when you amend, what is amended is gone. It is the new amended copy that is now relevant. That is what the Court of Appeal looked at and said this thing is rubbish.”
He said that if the federal government decides to continue keeping him custody, it means holding him “extra-judiciously or in simple terms you are detaining him, and detention is alien to our constitution,” Uwazuruike stated.
Uwazurike argued that when a Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court makes a pronouncement, everything ends at least at that level.
Legal expert advised that the AGF should look at the Court of Appeal judgment dispassionately if he is a “prosecutor” and not “persecutor”.
“I believe the Hon. Attorney General was being a ‘persecutor’ not a ‘prosecutor’ when he made that comment. The Court of Appeal struck out everything on the ground that there was no jurisdiction. The Attorney General should go back and ask himself what did we do wrong before the court of law.
“So as at yesterday evening, there was no more charge pending against Nnamdi Kanu,” he further posited.
On whether the Federal Government could go to the Supreme Court to seek an interpretation on the matter, the senior lawyer said the AGF should look at the provisions of the constitution and the weight of his office.
Uwazurike who is also the president of the Cultural Credibility Development Initiative (CCDI), a socio-cultural and political group, said that this is a political season when sensitive issues like this could hit up the polity and discredit political actors before the masses whom they seek to woo for their supports.
“This is a political season, it is a matter that no politician worth his name, just like the AGF himself is a politician, can gamble with certain things, and this is what he is doing.
“I advise the Hon. Attorney General to please think again and think wisely,” Uwazuruike concluded.
Also, a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, while commenting on the Appeal Court judgement and the AGF’s attitude towards the trial of Kanu, condemened what he called “executive rascality” as exhibited in the manner in which the IPOB leader was brought back to Nigeria, adding that the ruling strongly rebuked it.
“The Court of Appeal in Abuja has made a bold statement that the Judiciary will not tolerate Executive impunity. This is a strong rebuke against executive rascality. The extraordinary rendition of Nnamdi Kanu remains a heinous violation of international law.”
Effiong, a fiery activist, called for the resignation of Malami from office.
Earlier on Thursday evening after the Appeal Court ruling, Effiong had tweeted calling on the Federal Government to first release KANU even if it was going to appeal the judgment.
“Should the Federal Government decide to appeal against the discharge and acquittal of Nnamdi Kanu by the Court of Appeal, it must still release Kanu. This is because the liberty of a citizen cannot be stayed. There is no room for stay of execution in this kind of case,” Effiong had tweeted.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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