A lawyer, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor, yesterday said he remained the counsel for the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Ejiofor, who had represented Nnamdi Kanu, distanced himself only from the jailed IPOB leader’s personal legal matters.
In a statement yesterday, the lawyer said he personally withdrew from Kanu’s legal representation in December 2023, long before Kanu’s conviction and sentencing to life imprisonment.
“For the avoidance of doubt, and for the sake of clarity, I wish to state unequivocally that I personally disengaged myself from the legal representation of Nnamdi Kanu in any capacity since December 2023,” he said.
He explained that his firm had, since then, remained retained solely as solicitors to IPOB as an organisation, securing what he described as the discharge and acquittal of over 200 alleged members across the Federal High Court in Abuja and the Ebonyi and Abia State High Courts between 2023 and 2025.
Ejiofor maintained that Kanu never independently appointed his firm as counsel to IPOB, insisting his only link to the appointment was through his now-terminated role as Kanu’s private lawyer.
He dismissed suggestions that he still represented Kanu personally as “a deliberate distortion of the facts.”Related News
To back his claim of continued standing, Ejiofor shared a letter from Mr Chikadibia Edoziem, whom he described as Head of the Directorate of State of IPOB, reaffirming his retention as the group’s lawyer.
He also cautioned against giving credence to unauthenticated prison communications, citing provisions of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act which require that any message from an inmate bear the imprimatur of the officer in charge of the correctional centre concerned.
But IPOB rejected the claim, insisting Ejiofor had been sacked and remained dismissed on Kanu’s orders.
In a statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, the group condemned what it called spurious claims by “the sacked and disengaged external solicitor”.
He alleged that the letter cited by Ejiofor was signed by expelled members with no authority to act for IPOB.
Source: The Nation News
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