Hours after the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Omoyele Sowore, led some protesters in parts of Abuja demanding freedom for the detained leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, the separatist leader, in a dramatic turn on Tuesday, agreed to enter his defence.
The detained IPOB leader had last Thursday filed a motion of preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to continue with his trial.
In a fresh motion he personally filed on Tuesday, October 21, Kanu assured the court that he was prepared to begin his defence “pursuant to the order of this honourable court made on the 16th day of October 2015, directing the defendant to commence his defence on the 24th day of October 2025.”
Kanu informed the court, presided over by Justice James Omotosho, of his plan to call a total of 23 witnesses divided into two categories.
The first category, he said, would be those he called “ordinary but material witnesses”.
He further informed the court that his second category of witnesses would be “vital and compellable” and shall be “summoned under Section 232 of the Evidence Act, 2011.”
In the notice Kanu personally signed, suggesting that he may have fired his team of lawyers led by Kanu Agabi, SAN, the IPOB leader told the court that, in view of the number of witnesses he intends to call, the court should consider granting a 90-day timeframe to enable him to conclude his defence.
He told the court that he would “testify on his own behalf, providing a sworn account of the facts, denying the allegations, and explaining the political context of his statements and actions.”
Among those Kanu listed as “compellable witnesses” are a former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), a former Chief of Army Staff, Gen Tukur Buratai (rtd), as well as Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Hope UzodiMma, Governors of Lagos and Imo States respectively.
He further listed the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Nyesom Nwike, his Works counterpart, Dave Umahi, and the immediate past governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu.
He also listed the immediate past Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, the immediate past Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, his then-collegue at the State Security Service, SSS, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, and several witnesses whose identities he didn’t reveal.
