By Our Reporter
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – The legal team representing the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has warned that the continued trial of their client is undermining the integrity of Nigeria’s judiciary and eroding public confidence in the justice system.
In a statement issued on Thursday, October 9, 2025, and signed by Njoku Jude Njoku, Esq., for the Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium, the defence said the proceedings before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, amounted to a violation of constitutional principles and judicial ethics.
Njoku described what transpired in court on October 8, 2025, as “a national embarrassment and a tragic commentary on the state of the Nigerian judiciary,” insisting that the adjournment of the case over the absence of a medical report from the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) was unnecessary. “The absence of the report was not the real reason for the adjournment,” he said. “It has become part of a pattern of delays that weaken faith in due process and the rule of law.”
He argued that Kanu’s ongoing prosecution under the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 and its 2013 Amendment is unlawful because those statutes were repealed by the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (TPPA) in 2022. “The Nigerian Constitution is clear,” Njoku said. “No person can be tried under a law that has ceased to exist. Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) makes that position unambiguous.”
According to him, the duty to take judicial notice of existing and repealed laws is mandatory under Section 122(2)(a) of the Evidence Act 2011, and failure to do so renders any trial under a repealed law invalid. “The court has a constitutional duty to ensure that justice is done in accordance with the law as it stands, not as it once was,” he said.
Njoku cited previous judicial authorities, including Ariori v. Elemo (1983) and Obiuweubi v. CBN (2011), noting that once a law is repealed, all actions based on it automatically collapse unless preserved by a valid saving clause. “There is no saving clause here,” he stated. “Continuing this trial under a repealed law is inconsistent with constitutional justice.”
The defence also expressed concern over what it called institutional failures that encourage disregard for court orders and due process. Njoku said, “Every day that this case lingers is another day the judiciary loses its moral standing before the public. The courts must not appear to reward disobedience or compromise their independence in politically sensitive cases.”
He urged the judiciary to uphold its constitutional responsibilities, stressing that its independence must be protected at all times. “The judiciary’s integrity is tested not by ordinary cases but by those that challenge its courage,” he said. “When courts allow technicalities or external pressures to dictate their actions, justice suffers.”
The Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium reaffirmed its position that the trial is a nullity and called for its immediate termination. It urged the court to comply with the Court of Appeal’s judgment of October 13, 2022, which, according to the defence, remains binding.
“The continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is contrary to the Constitution and established judicial precedents,” Njoku said. “Nigeria is at a crossroads — between respect for the rule of law and the erosion of constitutional governance. The judiciary must choose the path of justice and history will remember those who stood for what is right.”
