With about a week for the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to deliver judgment in the terrorism charges filed against him, Nnamdi Kanu the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, has filed a fresh motion before the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to stop the high court from delivering judgment in his matter.
Kanu, filed the process himself as he has done away with his lawyers.
The Federal High Court in Abuja had slated November 20 to deliver judgement on the seven-count terrorism charge the Federal Government, FG, preferred against him.
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The embattled IPOB leader predicated his application on the fact that he had appealed against a ruling that trial Justice James Omotosho delivered against him on September 26.
He noted that the trial court had in the said ruling, dismissed a no-case-submission he filed to challenge the legal competence of the charge and the jurisdiction of the court to try him.
Kanu, who had contended that the totality of evidence that was tendered by the prosecution, failed to establish a prima-facie case against him, told the appellate court that instead of discharging and acquitting him, the trial judge ordered him to open his defence to the charge.
He argued that it was wrong for the high court to dismiss his application without going through the issues he raised about the validity of the charge and its jurisdiction to entertain it.
According to Kanu, the charge against him was based on the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2013, which he said had since been repealed.
He insisted that the constitutional issue of jurisdiction he raised against his trial, was ignored by the trial judge.
More so, Kanu told the appellate court that trial Justice Omotosho did not evaluate the evidence of the five prosecution witnesses as well as their answers during cross examination, to determine whether the proof of evidence adduced before the court, was discredited.
Kanu told the appellate court that his intention was to produce 23 witnesses after the issue of jurisdiction had been determined.
He alleged that the trial court insisted it would only decide on the issue in its final judgement on the case.
In a 13- paragraph affidavit he filed in support of the motion, Kanu raised the issue of disobedience to Supreme Court order on the validity of count 7 in the charge against him, as well as the failure to apply mandatory test under section 303 of Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 ACJA.
It was his position that the Supreme Court made it clear that count 7 of the charge was no longer an offence in Nigeria, same having been repealed.
In the affidavit he personally deposed to, Kanu said his pending appeal raised substantial recondite and constitutional issues of law.
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He added that counts 1 to 6 of the charge were predicated on a repealed and non-existent statute, which he said was an indication that he had no valid charge pending against him.
Meanwhile, the appellate court had yet to fix a date for the motion to be heard.
