Supreme Court has fixed December 15, 2023 to deliver judgment in the appeal filed by the federal government against the Court of Appeal judgment that sets aside the criminal charges against Nnamdi Kanu and ordered his release.
Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun fixed the date after taking arguments from Kanu’ s lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, and Tijani Gazali, SAN, who represented the federal government.
The federal government while presenting its case, appealed to the Apex Court to void and set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal which voided the charges against Kanu and ordered his release.
Gazali specifically, pleaded that the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which upheld seven count charges against Kanu be affirmed so that Kanu can be brought for trial in the charges.
However, while opposing the federal government, Ozekhome maintained that the Federal Government had since June 29, 2021 been detaining Kanu illegally, unlawfully and unconstitutionally.
The senior lawyer pleaded that the judgment of the Court of Appeal which quashed the entire charges against Kanu and ordered his immediate release be upheld and affirmed.
Ozekhome maintained that Kanu’s continued detention by the federal government was unlawful in the face of the subsisting Court of Appeal judgment which had ordered that Kanu be immediately released.
Insisting that no government has power to trample on the fundamental rights of citizens as in the case of Kanu, Ozekhome maintained that his client is being detained in gross violation of both local and international laws.
He therefore urged the Supreme Court to uphold the judgment of the Court of Appeal and order immediate release of Kanu.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division had on October 13, 2022 in a judgment in an appeal filed and argued by Ozekhome, dismissed the remaining 7 count criminal charges brought against Kanu by the federal government at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Apparently dis-satisfied with the Court of Appeal judgment, the federal government took the case to the Supreme Court with request to quash the findings of the Court of Appeal and restore the trial of Kanu on treasonable felony at the Federal High Court.
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