The Court of Appeal headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday clarified that the transfer of its 21 justices to various divisions in the country had nothing to do with its judgment, which discharged and quashed the terrorism charges against the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
The Appellate Court said, contrary to insinuations, the posting of 21 out of its 81 justices was a routine exercise aimed at reinvigorating the justice delivery of the court.
The court’s Chief Registrar, Umar Bangari, in a statement, denied the media report that the three Justices who delivered the October 13 judgment that ordered the release of Kanu from detention were transferred.
According to him, only one justice out of the three that handled Kanu’s case was affected by the postings.
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 the 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 October 13, 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.
“21 out of 81 Justices, including six 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.”
