Lawyer says Kanu's trial court acted like tribunal bent on conviction
Lawyer Onyedikachi Ifedi accused the trial court of acting like a tribunal bent on convicting Nnamdi Kanu at all costs, saying the court convicted him under the repealed Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013 instead of the living Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, violating Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution. He argued the conviction is a legal nullity because the 2013 Act was repealed in May 2022, so no written law was in force on the conviction date of 20 November 2025. Ifedi also cited Supreme Court precedents that a trial under a repealed law is an absolute nullity, regardless of evidence or time spent. The Indigenous People of Biafra has threatened to boycott the 2027 election in the South-East and other Biafra territories if Kanu’s appeal is not listed for hearing. The lawyer further accused the court of defying the National Assembly’s mandate to migrate proceedings from the repealed 2013 Act to the 2022 Act, calling the judgment a pre‑engineered conviction and judicial rebellion. What does this alleged constitutional breach mean for judicial accountability in Nigeria, and could the election boycott threat shape political dynamics in the South-East?