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Nnamdi Kanu victim of judicial ambush, denied fair hearing – Family
The family of leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has issued an official statement rejecting his conviction by an Abuja Federal High Court.
Kanu was on September 20, 2025, convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to life imprisonment by the court presided by Justice James Omotosho. He is currently serving the prison term at Sokoto Correctional Centre.
The Okwu Kanu family, in a statement released on Monday by Prince Emmanuel Kanu, described the judgment as a judicial ambush, a complete denial of fair hearing and an affront to the Constitution.
Parts of the statement read, “The Kanu Family issues this statement today with heavy hearts but absolute clarity. What happened in the courtroom of Justice James Omotosho was not justice — it was an ambush. After months of legal arguments, after submissions citing Section 36(12) of the Constitution, Supreme Court authorities stating plainly that a repealed law is dead, and the binding decision of the Supreme Court directing correction of Count 7, Justice Omotosho ignored every one of these constitutional and judicial commands and convicted Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on repealed and non-existent laws.”
The family condemned the conviction, describing it as unprecedented and unconstitutional. It stressed that the judgment was a direct violation of the right to fair hearing.
The statement added, “The judge cannot ambush an accused after hearing has closed. Once parties conclude arguments, the judge cannot, on judgment day, introduce a new legal theory, new statutes, or new grounds of conviction. Doing so without informing the accused or giving him a chance to be heard is the very definition of denial of fair hearing.
“What Justice Omotosho did was exactly that. He invoked a transition/savings clause — a clause that nobody argued, nobody raised, and nobody addressed — and used it to overturn the Constitution itself. This is ambush jurisprudence. This is not law.”
Stressing that the Supreme Court has repeatedly declared that a repealed law is dead, the statement noted that the Section 36(12) of the Constitution is clear that no person shall be convicted unless the offence is defined in a written law in force at the time.
“The Supreme Court has repeated the same principle in case after case. A repealed statute is dead. A repealed statute cannot create an offence.
A repealed statute cannot sustain a conviction. No judge, regardless of personal views, can resurrect a dead law. Justice Omotosho acknowledged these authorities — then violated them. He did not only contradict the Constitution. He contradicted the Supreme Court. He contradicted binding precedent. He contradicted his own oath of office.”
The statement argued that the judge’s attempt to evade the constitutional bar on repealed laws by invoking a savings clause was legally impossible as the savings clause applies only to matters pending at the time of repeal.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s matter was not pending. The Court of Appeal discharged and acquitted him. That decision terminated all charges.
When the Federal Government filed fresh charges before Justice Omotosho, it was a new case, commencing de novo. A case that was terminated cannot be “saved” by a transition clause.
The law cannot save what no longer existed.
“Justice Omotosho therefore applied the savings clause to a non-existent proceeding, which is a legal impossibility,” it further argued.
The statement further held that the right to be tried only under laws in force, be informed of the exact charge, and not be convicted under a repealed or non-existent law, are part of the non-derogable right to fair hearing, as stipulated by Section 36 of the Constitution.
“No transition clause can override Section 36. No statute can override the Constitution. No judge can override the Supreme Court. Yet this judgment did all three. If Justice Omotosho’s position is accepted, then a judge can convict on a repealed law; a judge can revive a dead law, a judge can contradict the Constitution by judicial improvisation,
and worst of all — a non-derogable right can be derogated from. Such a proposition is legally absurd and constitutionally dangerous.”
Insisting that the judgment cannot stand, the family declared, “We state without fear and without apology – Justice Omotosho’s judgment is unlawful, unconstitutional, and void. It was achieved through ambush, through reliance on laws that no longer exist,
through disobedience to the Supreme Court, through denial of fair hearing, and
through a fabricated legal theory never presented in open court. Nothing done under such conditions can stand in law.
Nothing done in violation of a citizen’s fundamental rights can endure.
“We therefore demand immediate nullification of the unconstitutional conviction. An end to this judicial improvisation that treats constitutional rights as optional suggestions. Nigeria is a constitutional republic. Its judges must act like it.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Thursday, swore in General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd) as Minister of Defence at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
General Musa’s appointment follows the resignation of Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar on Monday, December 1, 2025. His nomination was announced the following day and transmitted to the Senate, where it received expedited screening and confirmation.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Nigerian Army in 1991 and had a distinguished military career. He was appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023 and retired in October 2025.
As Chief of Defence Staff, he championed inter-service security collaboration.
With his swearing-in, the new Defence Minister is expected to immediately assume duties as the Tinubu administration seeks to consolidate recent security gains and fast-track reforms aimed at achieving lasting peace and stability nationwide.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Sen. Adeniyi Adegbonmire, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Also in attendance were the spouse of the new Minister, Mrs Lilian Oghogho Musa; Chief of Defense Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede; Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah; and Justice Kumai Bayang Akaahs (rtd).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said it has appealed the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which ordered the release of twenty-seven houses to James Ibechukwu Okoye and his company.
In the Notice of Appeal filed at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, the Commission expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the trial court, which was delivered on October 31, 2025.
EFCC counsel, Abba Mohammed, SAN, sought two orders from the Court of Appeal, which include; Staying the execution of the judgment of the trial court pending the hearing and determination of the appeal; and such further or other orders as the court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.
Meanwhile, the Commission said it felt obliged to correct the distortions and misrepresentations contained in a news story titled “EFCC Invades Abuja Property Despite Court Order Restraining Agency, Awarding N20 million To Jona Brothers”.
It explained in a statement on X that the Abuja property, Plot 680-689 Cadastral Zone B06, Mabushi, Abuja, referenced in the report, is a subject of criminal charge before Justice A.I Kutigi of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court .
However, the EFCC said it sought and secured an order of interim forfeiture of the property before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja pending the determination of the criminal charge before Justice Kutigi.
“In granting the order, the court authorized the EFCC to ‘appoint competent persons/ firm to manage the assets/properties listed in the schedule therein, temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government pending the conclusion of investigation and determination of criminal charges against the suspect,’”
“It is also important to point out that the criminal charge struck out by Justice Osho Adebiyi and the N20m cost she awarded is not in any way connected to the interim order.
“In addition, the enforcement of the interim forfeiture order of the property by the Commission is without prejudice to ongoing appeals on court pronouncements about the true ownership of the property. The appeals are ongoing and the EFCC is diligently attending proceedings.”
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun has reaffirmed the commitment of the country’s judiciary to protection of human rights as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and other international laws and treaties.
She emphasized that the judiciary remains steadfast in its constitutional mandate to uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of citizens.
The CJN spoke on Thursday at the conference on ‘Proportional Force and Respect for Human Dignity: A Dialogue in Governance’, organized by the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, in collaboration with Citizen FM.
The Administrator of the National Judicial Institute, NJI, Justice Babatunde Adeniran Adejumo, represented the Chief Justice of Nigeria at the conference.
In the goodwill message, Justice Kekere-Ekun congratulated the National Human Rights Commission on its 30th anniversary and commended the organizers for holding the conference on International Human Rights Day.
She emphasized that when authority is exercised with restraint, discipline, and accountability, it strengthens public trust and reinforces the legitimacy of institutions.
The CJN reiterated the judiciary’s commitment to protecting human rights and providing remedies where they are infringed.
“Let me make it abundantly clear that the judiciary remains steadfast in its constitutional mandate to uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of citizens,” she said.
The CJN further commended the NHRC for promoting dialogue and awareness on critical human rights issues in Nigeria.
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