The Association of Igbo Lawyers has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to be joined as an interested party in a suit filed by a group of Northern elders calling for the South-East region’s exit from Nigeria.
The Northern elders Nastura Ashir Shariff, Balarabe Rufa’i, Abdul-Aziz Sulaiman, and Aminu Adam had earlier filed the case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/538/2021, urging the court to compel the National Assembly to initiate a legal framework for a referendum on self-determination for the South-East.
Listed as defendants in the suit are the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the National Assembly.
The plaintiffs argue that, based on Articles 1, 2, 4, 14, and 20(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act 2004, the National Assembly has the constitutional authority to convene a joint session to deliberate on the growing calls for self-determination from the South-East.
Among the reliefs sought, the Northern elders are asking the court for:
1. A declaration affirming that the National Assembly can call for a joint session to address the issue of secession agitation in the South-East; and
2. An order directing the National Assembly to establish a framework to enable the region’s self-determination before any further constitutional amendments.
They maintain that their legal action is intended to offer a peaceful resolution to the prolonged crisis and violence linked to the secessionist movement led by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under Nnamdi Kanu.
The Association of Igbo Lawyers, in its application for joinder, said it has a vested interest in the outcome of the suit, given its direct implications for the rights, security, and political future of the South-East region.
The matter is expected to come up for hearing soon as the court considers the lawyers’ application for inclusion in the case.
