Mr Kanu is seeking an out-of-court settlement after the court rejected his bail applications and rejected his request to dismiss the charges against him.
The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, is seeking to negotiate with the Nigerian government to drop the treasonable felony charges against him.
Mr Kanu, who is leading a secessionist campaign for the creation of the Biafra Republic from Nigeria, faces trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja over his separatist campaigns.
At the hearing on Wednesday, Mr Kanu’s lawyer, Alloy Ejimakor, informed the judge, Binta Nyako, that his client was seeking to dialogue with the government to drop the charges.
Referencing section 17 of the Federal High Court Act, Mr Ejimakor said, “In any proceeding, the court may promote reconciliation among parties thereto and encourage and facilitate the amicable settlement thereof.”
The defence lawyer moved an application objecting to the court’s jurisdiction to try the IPOB leader, who appears in court from the State Security Service (SSS) custody in Abuja.
Mr Ejimakor explained that his client would pursue an out-of-court settlement route if the court rejected his application challenging the court’s jurisdiction.
He said he had discussed the proposition with Mr Awomolo and that the senior lawyer told him the time to defer discussion to a future time.
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Nigerian govt’s lawyer reacts
In his response, the lawyer to the federal government, Adegboyega Awomolo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), told the court that he lacked the power to negotiate with the defendant on behalf of the government.
Mr Awomolo acknowledged that Mr Kanu’s lawyer earlier communicated his desire to seek an out-of-court settlement regarding the charges.
But he said he did not have the instruction of his client, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), to embark on any negotiation with the defendant over the charges.
He said that, as a lawyer, he was only briefed to prosecute the matter.
“I told him to go to the AGF, who has the power,” he said, adding that the AGF and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, was the one with the statutory powers to negotiate on behalf of the Nigerian government.
Judge reacts
Reacting, the trial judge noted that she had no problem with parties exploring an out-of-court settlement if they decided to.
Like Mr Awomolo, the judge urged Mr Kanu to approach the AGF, who is the proper person to negotiate with.
Court affirms jurisdiction to hear charges
In a ruling, Mrs Nyako dismissed a fresh application by Mr Kanu challenging the validity of counts 1,2,3,4,5,8 and 15.
The defendant had argued that the five counts were unconstitutional and that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because the prosecution failed to indicate the exact locations where Mr Kanu allegedly carried out the “offensive broadcast” complained of in the charges.
He further argued that the prosecution failed to show in the charges whether the alleged offensive broadcast was a punishable offence in Kenya or Britain, the two places where Mr Kanu had been outside Nigeria before his rearrest in June 2021.
But the judge ruled that she could not overrule herself on issues she had already resolved, adding that the only option for the applicant was to proceed on appeal.
Mrs Nyako ordered the prosecution to file and serve its proof of evidence on the defendant and the defendant to file his defence before the next hearing.
She ordered the defendant and prosecution to identify areas of concurrence in the case and aspects the defence would be objecting.
The judge adjourned the matter until 24 September for further hearing.
Kanu accuses SSS of contempt, judge reacts
Mr Ejimakor, earlier on Wednesday, informed the court that he had initiated a contempt proceeding by filing Form 49 seeking the jailing of the director general of the SSS for alleged disobedience to court orders.
He said the SSS disobeyed the court’s orders directing that Mr Kanu should be granted full, unhindered access to his lawyers. Mr Ejiamakor said the SSS still bugged the legal team’s meetings with Mr Kanu.
He added that the SSS had refused to provide Mr Kanu with a “safe room” to meet with his lawyers as directed by the court.
Mr Ejimakor expressed concern that the room the SSS provided for such purposes “is bugged.”
Reacting to the issue of the Form 49 application filed by Mr Kanu, the judge said the filing had yet to reach her file.
However, the judge ordered the SSS to provide an “un-bugged space” for the defendant’s meetings with his legal team.
She said the “un-bugged space” could be a garden within the SSS premises where Mr Kanu and his lawyers could discuss without any interference by the SSS operatives.
Background
Mr Kanu, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom, faces treasonable charges resulting from his separatist campaigns using his IPOB platform for the secession of the states in South-east Nigeria and parts of neighbouring states as an independent Biafra nation.
The separatist leader was arrested in Lagos in October 2015 when he arrived in Nigeria from the UK. He was granted bail in 2017 and fled Nigeria after soldiers invaded his home in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia, Anambra State.
In June 2021, the Nigerian government arrested in Kenya and forcibly returned him to Nigeria. Since then, he has remained in SSS custody.
In April 2022, the trial court partially struck out 8 out of the 15 counts that the federal government filed against him.
He appealed to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, requesting the court dismiss the rest of the charges.
On 13 October 2022, the Court of Appeal, granting Mr Kanu’s request, dismissed the remaining terrorism and treasonable felony charges.
But the Nigerian government appealed against the Court of Appeal’s decision.
Ruling on the appeal, the Supreme Court ordered in December 2023 that his trial should continue at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
On several occasions, the court rejected Mr Kanu’s bail request since his repatriation from Kenya.
