Lawyer to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has denied allegations by Aloy Ejimakor, the lead counsel to the detained leader of the group, Nnamdi Kanu, that he was responsible for the failure of the appeal which challenged the group’s proscription.
The Court of Appeal last week upheld the Federal High Court ruling which proscribed the group in 2021.
In a statement on Sunday, Ejiofor said he had no hand in the conduct of the appeal after it was taken over from him by the duo of Ejimakor and Machikwu Ume in 2022.
He accused Ejimakor of planning to associate him with the failure of the IPOB appeal.
The statement read:
“My attention has been drawn to a misleading tweet by Aloy Ejimakor, which seeks to misrepresent facts and mischievously associate my name with the recent concluded Appeal on IPOB proscription, which judgment was handed down on the 30th day of January 2025. I wish to clarify the following:
1) I had no involvement in the conduct of the appeal after it was clandestinely taken over from me by Machukwu Ume SAN and Aloy Ejimakor, in 2022.
“Their legal team amended the entire processes we filed on Appeal, including our briefs and consequently introduced additional grounds of appeal, the basis of which I am not in a position to explain, particularly regarding the ground(s) for their abysmal outing/dismissal of the Appeal.
2) When their gimmicks became obvious that they were routing towards taking over the Appeal, I specifically but respectfully requested the learned Senior Advocate leading them, not to include my name on any processes they are filing, and clearly informed him that I have respectfully taken a bow.
3) The records are clear – Aloy Ejimakor, who is now attempting to cause mischief by deceptively including my name in their woeful outing on Appeal, has consistently provided updates on the progress of the Appeal when they were effectively prosecuting it, without ever mentioning me.
It is therefore suspicious that he now seeks to involve me after the Appeal’s dismissal, by publishing a document wherein my name curiously appears in the list of those who represented the Appellant.
4) As the primary force behind taking over the Appeal, Aloy Ejimakor and his team are fully responsible for its outcome.
He should be held accountable for details of what happened in their case on Appeal, what led to their unsuccessful Appeal, rather than dragging my name into his failed legal outing. I urge him to refrain from associating me with his missteps and to take responsibility for his actions.
5) I am not surprised that the master strategist is relentlessly seeking to associate me with failure, for which I will profusely resist and reject.
Let it be clear that I distance myself from the proceedings and the outcome of the Appeal. Any attempt to mislead the public by linking me to it in any way, is both deceptive and unacceptable, and will not be treated with kids’ glove.”
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON ALOY EJIMAKOR’S MISLEADING CLAIMS:
My attention has been drawn to a misleading tweet by Aloy Ejimakor, which seeks to misrepresent facts and mischievously associate my name with the recent concluded Appeal on IPOB proscription, which judgment was… pic.twitter.com/Yt69S6gZFR
— bar ifeanyi ejiofor (@EjioforBar) February 2, 2025
