The Federal High Court has denied claims that the newly assigned judge in the case of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has stepped down. The court dismissed these reports as “false and misleading.”
In a statement signed by the Chief Registrar, Sulaiman Hassan, on Tuesday, the court clarified that Justice John Tsoho, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, was never assigned as the new judge in Kanu’s case, nor did he withdraw from it. The statement was issued in response to social media reports suggesting that Justice Tsoho had taken over the case and later stepped down, allegedly citing the illegality of Kanu’s arrest.
Hassan noted that the claim was “entirely unfounded, fictitious, grossly mischievous, damaging in intent and should be disregarded in its entirety.” The statement also reaffirmed that Justice Tsoho, in his capacity as Chief Judge, had only reassigned the case from Justice Binta Nyako to another judge and had not made any statements regarding the legality of Kanu’s arrest.
“The attention of Management of the Federal High Court has been drawn, with great concern, to an online reportage as above captioned. The court unequivocally refutes the false and misleading report, alleging that the Honourable Chief Judge, Hon. Justice John T. Tsoho, OFR, has stepped down from Nnamdi Kanu’s case and made statements regarding the legality of his arrest,” the statement read.
