Nnamdi Kanu Rejects IPOB’s Proscription, Heads To Supreme Court

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has vowed that the group will approach the Supreme Court to appeal the recent judgment which affirmed its proscription.

In reaction to the ruling, Kanu, through his lead counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, issued a statement on Friday saying the Court of Appeal’s ruling “will go down in infamy.”

On Thursday, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling of the Federal High Court that banned IPOB and declared it a terrorist organization.

The lawyer said the ruling was unreasonable and perverse, ignoring the Nigerian Constitution and elevating the denial of a fair hearing to an unacceptable level. It stressed that this ruling “should not be” made.

The statement further stressed that the ruling will be resisted because it does not meet the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution and relevant laws.

During a routine meeting with Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu today, he instructed his lawyers to tell the public: “For the avoidance of doubt, the Court of Appeal’s ruling will have little or no adverse effect on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s main case.

The statement also warned against labeling Kanu or IPOB as terrorists, stating: “There are myriad other various legal options available to any person or entity that seeks to take unfair advantage of the Court of Appeal’s ruling and inflict legal and constitutional damage against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the Ibo people.

For the time being, it is legally safe and prudent to resist the dangerous temptation to call Mazi Nnamdi Kanu a terrorist until he is either convicted as a terrorist (which is difficult) or the Supreme Court finally rules against him (which is highly unlikely).”

In layman’s terms, the jury has not yet decided whether IPOB and Mazie Nnamdi Kanu are terrorists. Therefore, any person or entity that seizes this unfavorable juncture and disseminates the libel that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu/IPOB is a terrorist will face swift, hard-hitting, scorching, and spectacular legal action.

The statement highlighted one of the main issues raised in the Court of Appeals, stating that the Federal High Court’s ban order was obtained through an ex parte application by the federal government, not through a notice-and-comment hearing as required by law.

IPOB further argued that the inactive order violated its constitutional right to a fair hearing because it was not notified or heard before the inactive order was issued. It further noted that the enforcement order issued to the Attorney General was signed by the late Abba Kyari and not by former President Muhammadu Buhari, as required by law. He added that the Court of Appeals recognized these procedural irregularities, but dismissed the appeal on the grounds that national security takes precedence over constitutional provisions.

Disagreeing with the Court of Appeals’ ruling, the statement said, “Yesterday’s decision of the Court of Appeals, which found IPOB a terrorist group, will go down in infamy for questioning the national security risks allegedly posed by IPOB in 2017, which justifies what it calls a flagrant violation of the Constitution. and argued that the ruling discriminatorily targeted the Ibo people in its intent and effect.

According to the statement, the Constitution provides for a process to be strictly followed before suspending any provision of the Constitution in the interest of national security. In this case, the statement said, this process was not followed.