Federal High Court denies Kanu’s Bail Plea

Nnamdi Kanu, the imprisoned leader of the Proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), had filed a bail plea, but the Federal High Court denied it in Abuja.

In her ruling on Tuesday, Justice Binta Nyako said the suit was a gross abuse of the court process and an attempt to continue to litigate issues that have already been ruled on.

Tuesday’s ruling comes a month after the court declined to release the embattled IPOB leader on bail on May 18.

She recommended that if the petitioner felt wronged by the court’s judgment, he should appeal the matter to the Court of Appeal.

The trial judge stated that since the ruling in July 2017, when Kanu was granted bail till date, The case had been adjourned 15 times, and a substantive hearing had not yet begun.

She added that she was not satisfied with Kanu’s reason for not appearing in court for the continuation of his trial.

According to Justice Nyako, from court records, Kanu was represented by a lawyer on the day his bail was cancelled, as were his sureties, and he had never been refused a fair hearing. She maintains that a court could vacate a previous order when confronted with a cogent and verifiable reason.

“In the instant case, I have not been given any, neither have I been given any reason to set aside the order.”

Nyako maintained that before getting another favourable discretion from the court, the IPOB leader had to justify why he violated the earlier bail granted to him.

After that, the case was adjourned until November 14 for mention and to await the outcome of Kanu’s appeal at the appellate court.