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Separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu’s team wants immediate release. Will Nigerian government obey court order?

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In Nigeria, the legal team of the leader of the proscribed separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has asked for his release following a court ruling that freed him last week.

Kanu’s team, led by Mike Ozekhome on Tuesday issued a formal notice of release to the Anthony General of the Federation and the Director General of the State Security Service, demanding the immediate release of their client. 

A three-man panel upheld the Court of Appeal sitting in the country’s capital, Abuja, discharged the embattled Kanu last Thursday.

But the Nigerian government through the office of the attorney-general of the federation (AGF), in a statement issued by Dr. Umar Gwandu, special assistant on media and public relations to the minister of Justice a day after the ruling argued that the decision handed down by the court of appeal was on a single issue that borders on rendition, and other issues remained valid for judicial determination.

Kanu’s team in the formal release notice dated October 17, 2022, urged the AGF and DG of DSS to immediately comply with the judgment of the Court of Appeal. 

The legal team urged Abubakar Malami and the DG of the State Security Service to refer to the judgment and release their client immediately. 

Will the federal government of Nigeria release Kanu or will it go the way of other cases like the trial of the former National Security Adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan and that of a religious leader, El zakzaky where in the two instances government expressly disobeyed court orders?

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

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A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

 

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Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

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In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.

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