Kanu’s lawyers have petitioned the Supreme Court to review its 2023 judgment, alleging it relied on a repealed law and undermined the rule of law.
The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has returned to the Supreme Court to challenge what he described as a “per incuriam judgment” that “destroyed the rule of law.” According to a report SAHARA REPORTERS, the application seeks to overturn the apex court’s December 15, 2023, ruling which reversed Kanu’s discharge by the Court of Appeal.
In a statement titled “A Judgment That Destroyed Justice” and signed by Barrister Njoku Jude Njoku on Monday, Kanu’s lawyers alleged that the five-member panel led by Justice Garba Lawal “knowingly relied on a repealed law” the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013, to remand Kanu for trial, despite its replacement by the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.
“The Supreme Court knew the law had died, acknowledged that a repealed statute cannot sustain a criminal charge, yet proceeded to resurrect a dead law,” Njoku stated. He described the ruling as “a deliberate judicial ambush” and “judicial punishment.”
Njoku further argued that the decision violated Section 36(9) of the 1999 Constitution, which protects citizens from double jeopardy, warning that allowing the ruling to stand would “turn courts into co-agents of government reprisal.”
Kanu’s team maintained that their motion aims to safeguard Nigeria’s rule of law and judicial integrity.