The Court of Appeal headquarters in Abuja clarified on Tuesday that the transfer of its 21 Justices to various divisions across the country has nothing to do with the Court’s judgment that discharged and quashed the terrorism charges against Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
In contrast to a report in a section of the media, the Appellate Court stated that the postings of 21 of its 81 Justices were a routine exercise aimed at revitalizing the Court’s justice delivery.
The Chief Registrar of the Court, Malam Umar Mohammed Bangari, denied in a statement that the three Justices who delivered the October 13 judgment ordering Kanu’s release from detention had been transferred.
The Chief Registrar stated in a statement he personally signed that the postings affected only one of the three Justices who handled Kanu’s case.
The statement read in part “The attention of the Court of Appeal has been drawn to a publication in the media on Monday October 24, 2022 with a caption “Nnamdi Kanu: 3 Justices on Appeal Court Panel Transferred”
“The publication in question conveyed the innuendo to the effect that the recent postings of Justices of the Court of Appeal were in connection with or in response to the judgment of the Court of 13th October 2022 in Nnamdi Kanu Versus the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We wish to state categorically that the general postings of the Justices of the Court of Appeal under reference were routine and aimed at reinvigorating the justice delivery system of the Court.
“In fact, 21 out of 81 Justices including 6 Presiding Justices of the Court were affected by the general postings.
“It is therefore incorrect to insinuate that the Honourable Justices who delivered the judgment in the Nnamdi Kanu appeal were the targets of the routine posting exercise.
“A few minutes of inquiry by the media could have clarified the fact.
“We appeal to the media to exercise restraint and circumspection in reporting matters pertaining to the Court and its operations.
“The Court of Appeal has an open door policy of providing easy access to the media to make inquiries and seek clarification on any matters of interest to the media for the benefit of the general public.”