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James Omotosho, judge of a federal high court in Abuja, has fixed March 21 for the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
According to NAN, Omotosho is the new judge to which Kanu’s case file was assigned.
With a new judge taking over, Kanu’s case, which first started in 2015, will now begin afresh.
Kanu has been in the custody of the DSS since he was re-arrested in Kenya and extradited to Nigeria in 2021.
He has been facing trial bordering on treasonable felony.
In 2017, the court granted Kanu bail on the charges filed against him by the federal government.
However, the court revoked his bail and issued a bench warrant for his arrest after he failed to show up in court as required.
In April 2022, Justice Binta Nyako struck out eight of the 15 counts in the charge sheet.
The remaining seven counts were also quashed by the court of appeal on October 13, 2022, with the judge ordering Kanu’s release.
However, on October 28, 2022, the court of appeal granted a stay of execution on its verdict discharging Kanu after the federal government filed an appeal at the supreme court.
CASE REASSIGNED TO NEW JUDGE
Kanu had repeatedly asked Nyako to recuse herself from his case, alleging bias.
In September 2024, Nyako recused herself after an oral application by the defendant.
Two weeks later, John Tsoho, chief judge of the federal high court, returned the case file to Nyako on the ground that Kanu’s application must be formally brought before the court through a motion on notice.
On February 10, 2025, Nyako adjourned Kanu’s case indefinitely following the defendant’s insistence that the judge would not preside over his case since she had recused herself.
In a statement on March 8, Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, confirmed receiving “two separate official letters” from Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), and Tsoho, informing him of the case reassignment.
The federal high court subsequently issued a statement confirming the reassignment of Kanu’s case to another judge.
