The Court of Appeal has faulted reports linking the recent posting of some Justices of the court to different divisions to the October 13 judgment freeing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The court’s Chief Registrar, Umar Bangari said, in a statement on Tuesday, that the posting was a routine exercise intended to reinvigorate the court’s justice delivery system.
Bangari noted that, as against the impression created in the reports, only one, out of the three Justices on the panel that handled the Kanu appeal, was posted to a new division of the court.
The statement reads: “The attention of the Court of Appeal has been drawn to a publication in the Vanguard Newspaper of Monday 24th October, 2022, as well as its online version, with the caption “Nnamdi Kanu: 3 Justices on Appeal Court Panel Transferred”, followed by similar publications by other newspapers.
“The publications in question conveyed the innuendo to the effect that the recent postings of justices of the Court of Appeal were in connection with, or in response to the judgment of the Court of Appeal of 13th October, 2022 in Nnamdi Kanu V. the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We wish to state categorically that the general postings of the Justices of the Court of Appeal under reference were routine and aimed at reinvigorating the justice delivery system of the court.
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“In fact, 21 out of 81 Justices, including six Presiding Justices of the court, were affected by the postings.
“Indeed, of the three Justices that sat and determined the said appeal, only one was affected by the general postings.
“It is therefore incorrect and uncharitable to insinuate that the Hon. Justices, who delivered the judgment in the Nnamdi Kanu appeal, were the targets of the routine posting exercise.
“A few minutes of inquiry by the Vanguard newspaper, or the other media houses that followed up with similar publications, could have clarified this fact; unless of course the publication was intended for other purposes.
“Details of the recent postings are available in the office of the Chief Registrar of the court for verification.
“We also appeal to the Vanguard newspaper in particular and the media in general to exercise restraint and circumspection in reporting matters pertaining to the court and its operations.
“The Court of Appeal has an open door policy of providing easy access to the media to make inquiries and seek clarifications on any matters of interest to the media for the benefits of the general public.
“It is therefore unhealthy to rush into publishing unconfirmed information as in this case, please.
“We urge members of the public to discountenance this misinformation.”
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