Kanu’s trial; IPOB loses confidence on Judge Tsoho

Tsoho: A highly compromised judge

A call has been made for John Tsoho, the Judge handling the case between Nigerian government and Nnamdi Kanu, Director of Radio Biafra and Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to be de-robed by Nigerian Ministry of Justice. The call was made by IPOB through a press statement it made on Monday, March 7, insisting that Tsoho was ridiculing the Nigerian Judiciary.

Stating that it no longer had confidence in the judge. IPOB said the judge was so inconsistent that he changes his ruling with every court sitting. Explaining its position further, the Biafrans reported how on February 19, 2016, Tsoho ruled against a secret trial of Nnamdi Kanu, only to turn back on March 7, to reverse himself. “How can we trust a judge that rules one way and changes his mind the next sitting?” IPOB queried.

Continuing in the release signed by IPOB spokespersons, Barrister Emma Nmezu and Dr. Clifford Iroanya, the Biafrans wrote: “We have no trust in his continued participation in this matter and advice the Chief Judge of Abuja High Court to replace him with immediate effect. The Hon. Justice John Tsoso is a bumbling disgrace to the legal profession. He has been sent by Muhammadu Buhari with a mandate to jail Nnamdi Kanu and with the prize of becoming the next Chief Judge of the Federal High Court since he is next in line after the upcoming retirement of the only two Judges above him.”

On a personal note, they advised Tsoho to take the integrity route by voluntarily removing himself from the case “because he is obviously compromised and he lacks the integrity and moral trust to handle this case as an impartial judge”.

Kanu and colleagues: watching Tsoho make a fool of himself 

IPOB also cited an earlier case, the one of January 29, 2016, where the Judge ostensibly passed judgment on the accused, on a case that has not even been tried. The judgment he was said to have passed came in the form of the reasons he gave for not granting to the accused person. The reasons were as follows:

1.    That Nnamdi Kanu was a threat to national security.

2.    That if released, Nnamdi Kanu might commit the same offence again.

3.    That there was a possibility that Kanu might jump bail.

IPOB then took the opportunity to notify the world that up to March 7 that the Judge had not signed the original copy of the judgment, which the defence required to appeal that the order be vacated.

Buhari: Tsoho's puppetmaster