Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), on Tuesday informed the Federal High Court in Abuja that he was ready to open his defense.
This came just hours after Omoyele Sowore, the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, led protests in sections of Abuja seeking Kanu’s release.
Kanu filed a preliminary objection last Thursday, questioning the court’s jurisdiction to continue his trial.
The objection was filed on the same day that a court-appointed team of medical experts certified him medically able to face trial, according to Channels.
In a new application personally filed on Tuesday, October 21, Kanu stated that he was ready to begin his defense “pursuant to the order of this honorable court made on the 16th day of October 2015, directing the defendant to commence his defense on the 24th day of October 2025.”
He revealed plans to call 23 witnesses, separated into two categories: “ordinary but material witnesses” and “vital and compellable witnesses,” the latter to be summoned under Section 232 of the Evidence Act of 2011.
The motion, which Kanu personally signed, revealed that he had detached from his legal team, which was led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Kanu Agabi.
He also wanted 90 days to complete his defense due to the quantity of witnesses he plans to call.
Kanu stated that he would testify in his own name, “providing a sworn account of the facts, denying the allegations, and explaining the political context of his statements and actions.”
Among those listed as “compellable witnesses” were former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd); former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd); Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma.
Others include the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; Minister of Works, Dave Umahi; and former Abia State governor, Okezie Ikpeazu.
Kanu also listed former Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami (SAN); former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency Ahmed Rufai Abubakar; and Director-General of the Department of State Services Yusuf Magaji Bichi, among others whose identities he withheld.
Kanu promised to submit sworn statements from all voluntary witnesses and to notify the prosecution within a reasonable time.
He assured the court that “no precious time of the honorable court would be delayed,” adding that “justice must not only be done but be manifestly seen to have been done.”
Meanwhile, on the same day Kanu filed his motion, an Abuja magistrate court ordered the remand of his special lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, and 12 others who had been arrested during protests demanding his release.
The 13 defendants were charged with criminal conspiracy, disobedience of a lawful order, inciting disruption, and disturbing public peace, all of which violated sections 152, 114, and 113 of the Penal Code Law.
Those named in the first two information reports include Ejimakor, Kanu’s brother Emmanuel, Joshua Emmanuel, Wilson Anyalewechi, Okere Kingdom Nnamdi, Clinton Chimeneze, Gabriel Joshua, Isiaka Husseini, Onyekachi Ferdinand, Amadi Prince, Edison Ojisom, Godwill Obioma, and Chima Onuchukwu.
The magistrate, after briefly dismissing the case, ordered their remand at Kuje Correctional Centre and delayed the case till October 24 for arraignment.
