THE Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out an ex-parte application filed by the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, seeking his transfer from the Sokoto Correctional Facility.
At today’s hearing, Kanu’s counsel, Demdoo Asan, a senior legal officer with the Legal Aid Council, informed the court of his decision to withdraw from the case, citing irreconcilable differences.
He told the court that despite repeated communications with Kanu’s relatives since the last adjournment, they failed to appear at the Legal Aid office to depose to the application.
Asan further disclosed that Kanu attempted to dictate the conduct of the case and what counsel should say in court, a situation he said was unacceptable.
He noted that after consulting with his superiors, they agreed that the Legal Aid Council could no longer continue with the representation.
Invoking Order 50, Rule 1 of the Federal High Court Rules, Asan formally applied to withdraw from the matter.
In his ruling, Justice James Omotosho commended the counsel for preserving the integrity of the court and granted permission for both Asan and the Legal Aid Council to withdraw from representing Kanu.
The judge held that the application was incompetent and observed that there was no evidence of service on the relevant parties since the last court sitting on December 8, 2025.
Consequently, Justice Omotosho ordered that the ex-parte motion be struck out for lack of competence, while directing that other parties be duly served in the interest of justice and fairness.