Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Paul Ananaba asserts that the Supreme Court has the authority to give bail to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the wake of its decision ordering Nnamdi Kanu to stand trial.
The Federal Government contested the decision when an appeal court dropped the charges against the IPOB leader, and the Supreme Court decided on Friday that Kanu should go on trial.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Ananaba asserted that the people had great expectations for Nnamdi Kanu’s freedom and that the highest court had the authority to provide them.
“I think the Supreme Court has all the inherent authority to decide any case in the nation’s best interests,” Ananaba stated.
“I would have expected that Nnamdi Kanu should stand trial after learning that the Supreme Court disapproved of the manner in which the arrest was carried out and that the invasion of Kanu’s residence was unacceptable. However, the Supreme Court also possessed the authority and right to have granted him bail under specific conditions.
“I think the Supreme Court would have issued a consequential order in that order that ‘that bail be restored'” if it had determined that the bail had been improperly withdrawn.
Ananaba agrees with the Supreme Court that Kanu should be tried in the Federal High Court, but she also thinks the court should have used its authority to grant bail in certain circumstances after finding flaws in the way the government handled the case.
“If the Supreme Court had determined that the bail was improperly revoked, I think it would have issued a consequential order stating ‘that bail be restored,'” he reiterated.
The law professor did, however, implore Nigerians to honour the court’s rulings.
In a ruling read aloud by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the court declared that the Court of Appeal erred in holding that Kanu could not face a new trial on the grounds that the government had violated the law when it invaded his home and made his arrest.
The Supreme Court argued that, despite being judged careless and illegal, the Nigerian government’s actions do not deprive the courts of the authority to continue with the trial for suspected criminal charges, in response to Kanu’s nonattendance during the ruling.
The leader of the banned IPOB has been detained since June 2021 and is accused of terrorism and treasonable felonies.
