On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal’s Abuja headquarters made it clear that the transfer of the court’s 21 justices to various regions across the nation had nothing to do with the court’s decision to dismiss and overturn the terrorism charges against Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the IPOB, a banned organization.
In contrast to a report in some media, the Appellate Court claimed that the postings of 21 of its 81 Justices were a routine procedure intended to reenergize the Court’s administration of justice.
The three Justices who delivered the October 13 judgment ordering Kanu’s release from custody were not transferred, according to a statement from the court’s chief registrar, Malam Umar Mohammed Bangari.
The Chief Registrar stated in the statement he personally signed that only one Justice out of the three who handled Kanu’s case was impacted by the postings.
“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,” among other things,” read part of the statement.
The article in question implied that the recent postings of Justices of the Court of Appeal were related to or in response to the court’s decision in Nnamdi Kanu v. Federal Republic of Nigeria, which was rendered on October 13, 2022.
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“We want to say unequivocally that the general postings of the Justices of the Court of Appeal in question were normal and intended to reenergize the Court’s system for delivering justice.
“In actuality, the general postings had an impact on 21 out of 81 Justices, including 6 Presiding Justices of the Court.
Therefore, it is false to imply that the Honourable Justices who handed down the decision in the Nnamdi Kanu appeal were the targets of the standard posting procedure.
“A few minutes of media research may have cleared the situation.
“We request that the media report on issues relating to the Court and its activities with restraint and caution.
“For the benefit of the general public, the Court of Appeal has an open door policy that provides easy access to the media to make inquiries and seek clarification on any matters of interest to the media.”
