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JUST IN: FG Amends Charges Against Nnamdi Kanu, Lists Lawyers As Accomplices

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Nigeria’s federal government has concluded arrangements to re-arraign Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), on an amended six-count charge of treasonable felony.

The amendment came on a day trial Justice Binta Nyako fixed to hear an application Kanu filed to be released on bail, pending the determination of the charge against him.

A member of Kanu’s legal team, who craved anonymity, told Vanguard on Wednesday that FG had in the amended charge, listed some lawyers representing the embattled IPOB leader, including Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor and Mr. Maxwell Opara, as accomplices of the defendant.

FG, it was gathered, alleged that the said lawyers, were constantly in contact with Kanu after he jumped bail and fled the country, Vanguard reported.

It will be recalled that Kanu was subsequently re-arrested and returned back to the country from Kenya, under controversial circumstances.

Trial Justice Binta Nyako had on April 8, struck out eight out of the 15-count treasonable felony charge FG preferred against Kanu.

Justice Nyako held that the charges were mere repetitions that did not disclose any offense that could be sustained by the proof of evidence before the court.

FG had in the counts that were struck out, alleged that Kanu had through his broadcasts, incited members of the public to not only stage a violent revolution, but to attack police officers and also destroy public facilities in Lagos State.

While the court threw out counts 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12,13, and 14 of the charge, it okayed Kanu’s trial on counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 15.

The ruling followed an application Kanu filed to quash the entire charge against him, which he insisted was manifestly incompetent and legally defective.

The IPOB leader, through his team of lawyers led by Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), argued that the court lacked the jurisdiction to try him on the strength of an incompetent charge.

Ozekhome (SAN), further told the court that his client was “unlawfully, brutally and extraordinarily renditioned from Kenya without his consent”.

He argued that since some of the allegations FG leveled against Kanu, were purportedly committed outside the country, the high court, therefore, lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the charge.

“The charges appear to give this court a global jurisdiction over offenses that were allegedly committed by the Defendant, without specifying the location or date the said offenses were committed”.

He argued that under the Federal High Court Act, such a charge must disclose the specific location where the offense was committed.

More so, Ozekhome contended that Kanu could not be charged with belonging to an unlawful organization since the action of FG, in proscribing the IPOB, is still subject to legal dispute at the Court of Appeal and therefore subjudice.

Consequently, he urged the court to dismiss the charge, as well as to discharge and acquit the defendant.

However, FG’s lawyer, Mr. Shuaibu Labaran, opposed the application and urged the court to allow the prosecution to open its case.

He argued that Kanu’s application would touch the substance of the case that is yet to be heard.

“The position as of now is that the IPOB is a proscribed organization which was duly proscribed through the due process of law”.

He argued that Section 32 of the Terrorism Prevention Act imbued the court with the requisite jurisdiction to handle the trial.

On Kanu’s bail request, Ozekhome maintained that the amended charge contained bailable offenses, while FG’s lawyer, Labaran, argued that the defendant betrayed the previous discretion the court exercised in his favor when he jumped bail and escaped from the country.

He argued that it was owing to Kanu’s conduct that the court revoked his bail and issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

FG had in some of the charges that were sustained by the court, alleged that Kanu had in his broadcast that was received and heard in Nigeria, issued a deadly threat that anyone who flouted his sit-at-home order, should write his/her Will.

It told the court that as a result of the threat, Banks, Schools, Markets, Shopping Malls, and Fuel Stations domiciled in the Eastern States of Nigeria, were not opened for businesses, citizens, and vehicular movements in the Eastern States of Nigeria were grounded.

It alleged that Kau had on diverse dates between 2018 and 2021, made a broadcast received and heard in Nigeria, inviting members of the public to hunt and kill Nigerian security personnel and their family members, thereby committing an offense punishable under Section 1 (2) (h) of the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act, 2013.

While FG, in count-8, alleged that Kanu, directed members of the IPOB “to manufacture Bombs”, it told the court in count-15 that the defendant had between the month of March and April 2015, “Imported into Nigeria and kept in Ubulisiuzor in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, a Radio Transmitter known as Tram 50L concealed in a container of used household items which you declared as used household items, and you thereby committed an offense contrary to section 47 (2) (a) of Criminal Code Act Cap, C45 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004”.

BIG STORY

FULL LIST: Tinubu Appoints IBB’s Son, Muhammad Babangida Chairman Bank Of Agriculture, Others As Heads Of Govt Agencies

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Muhammad Babangida, the son of the former military President, as chairman of the revamped Bank of Agriculture.

President Tinubu approved the appointment today, along with seven others. Some of them will serve as chairmen or directors-general of Federal agencies.

Muhammad Babangida, 53, is an alumnus of the European University in Montreux, Switzerland, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Public Relations and Business Communication. He later attended Harvard Business School’s Executive Program on Corporate Governance in 2002.

Others appointed by the President are:

Lydia Kalat Musa (Kaduna State) Chairman, Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority (OGFZA).

Jamilu Wada Aliyu (Kano State) Chairman, National Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).

The Hon. Yahuza Ado Inuwa (Kano State) is the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) chairman.

Sanusi Musa (SAN, Kano State) is the Chairman of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution(IPCR).

Prof. Al-Mustapha Alhaji Aliyu (Sokoto State) is the Director-General of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA).

Sanusi Garba Rikiji (Zamfara State) is the Director-General of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN).

Mrs Tomi Somefun (Oyo State) is the Managing Director of the National Hydro-Electric Power Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC).

Dr Abdulmumini Mohammed Aminu-Zaria (Kaduna State) has been appointed Executive Director of the Nigerian Integrated Water Resources Management Commission (NIWRMC).

 

Bayo Onanuga

Special Adviser to the President

(Information & Strategy)

July 18, 2025

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BIG STORY

Buhari Never Wanted To Congratulate Saraki, Dogara After Emerging Senate President, Speaker — Femi Adesina

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Femi Adesina, who served as Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, revealed that Buhari was initially unwilling to congratulate Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara after they controversially became Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2015.

Adesina shared this in a tribute to Buhari, reflecting on his early experience as the president’s media aide and the difficulty of balancing loyalty with professional duty.

He explained that the incident happened just nine days after he took up the role of presidential spokesman.

According to Adesina, Saraki and Dogara emerged as leaders of the National Assembly against the preference of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Although their emergence was viewed as defiant, it still adhered to constitutional norms.

“I told the President we needed to congratulate them. He balked. But I stood my ground. He said no, I also said no. I said it would portray him as undemocratic,” Adesina wrote.

He noted that Buhari later agreed to issue the statement, making only a small addition to the final version.

“At the end of the day, he reasoned with me and the statement was written, with him just adding one word,” he stated.

“Keeping to his word is part of the famed integrity. Argue with me. If you have a better point, I’ll agree with you.”

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BIG STORY

Road To 2027: Everyone Afraid Of Atiku — Dele Momodu Claims As He Joins ADC

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Dele Momodu, the publisher of Ovation International, has said that “everyone is afraid” of former vice-president Atiku Abubakar.

He made this remark while giving reasons for leaving the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to join the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

Momodu also confirmed that he would be backing Atiku in the 2027 presidential election.

During an appearance on Channels TV on Thursday, Momodu stated that his endorsement of Atiku stems from a strategic understanding of Nigeria’s political dynamics.

He said: “Everybody is afraid of Atiku, and that is exactly why I, Dele Momodu, support him.

“The fear the ruling party has for him shows he remains the most formidable opposition figure today.

“When everyone is trying to discredit or silence a man, it means he’s the one they truly fear.”

Momodu previously ran for president in 2011 and took part in the PDP presidential primaries in 2022.

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