The Supreme Court, on 15 December, reversed the acquittal granted to the IPOB leader by the Court of Appeal, and consequently ordered continuation of his trial at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Nnamdi Kanu, detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has decried "strange delay" to transmit his case file to the Federal High Court from the Supreme Court.
Aloy Ejimakor, special counsel to the IPOB leader, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
The Supreme Court had, on 15 December 2023, ordered the continuation of Mr Kanu's trial on terrorism charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
But Mr Ejimakor said Mr Kanu "strongly condemned the unusual delay" to transmit his file to the lower court despite the order issued by the Supreme Court.
The special counsel said Mr Kanu spoke when he (Ejimakor) visited the IPOB leader on Monday at the facility of the State Security Service (SSS).
The IPOB leader, according to the statement, described the delay as "unacceptable" and frowned at the Supreme Court for failing to carry out its own order on the transmission of the case file to the Federal High Court, Abuja
"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 a month," Mr Ejimakor said.
The lawyer said it is ironic that judgments were readied and delivered on Election Petition Cases "in as little as a day or two and made available to parties" but the IPOB leader's case has lingered for over two years without judgment.
"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," he said.
The special counsel urged the judicial and administrative leadership of the Supreme Court "to take prompt steps" to transmit Mr Kanu's file to the Federal High Court and make certified true copies of the judgment available to his lawyers.
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"This is what the justice of the case demands at this point in time," he stated.
Background
Mr Kanu, the IPOB leader, 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 extra-ordinarily renditioned to Nigeria and that the action was a flagrant violation of 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 judgment at the Supreme Court.
Delivering judgment on the appeal on 15 December, the Supreme Court reversed the acquittal granted to Mr Kanu by the lower court and consequently ordered continuation of his trial at the Federal High Court Abuja.
