Kaduna PDP urges Makarfi to run for presidential ticket
Biafra: Court refuses to compel Buratai to produce Kanu
A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed an application by the counsel to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu to compel the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Burutai, to produce him in court.
Justice Binta Nyako yesterday ruled that counsel to Kanu, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, failed to provide evidence that his client was with the Nigerian Army, adding that the “Doctrine of Last Seen” which the application was based on is not statutory in law.
The judge maintained that Kanu remains on bail having been released to sureties who made undertaking to produce him in court always, adding that if they encounter any difficulty in their obligation they should tell the court on the adjourned date.
Kanu is facing five-count charges of treasonable felony alongside Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu, David Nwawuisi and Bright Chimezie.
The judge released him on bail on health grounds on April 25, 2017 to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, a Jewish High Priest, Emmanu El- Shalom Oka-Ben, and an accountant, Tochukwu Uchendu on a bond of N100m each.
But Kanu’s counsel told the court that his whereabouts remained unknown after the army on September 14 invaded his home in Afara-ukwu Ibeku, Umuahia, Abia State, wherein scores of his relatives were brutally wounded and about 28 persons killed, adding that based on the “Doctrine of Last Seen” only the army can give account of his disappearance.
However, in a counter-affidavit, Buratai told the court that Kanu was never in custody of the Nigerian Army. The suit was adjourned to February 20. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders in Kaduna yesterday asked its former National Caretaker Committee Chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, to contest the presidential ticket of the party.
The party leader and members who were at the state secretariat of the party for a meeting turned the occasion into a rally chanting slogans in support of the former governor.
When it was time to speak each commentator urged the former Kaduna governor to take up the challenge and contest the presidency.
Addressing party members during the meeting, a former Kaduna governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero said if PDP members were happy with what Makarfi did to revive the party at the national level, they should be glad to have him as president to revive Nigeria. He said for Nigeria to make meaningful and sustainable progress, the country need a leader like Makarfi.