The defence counsel for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Njoku Jude Njoku, Esq. has said that “higher courts are expected to overturn Kanu’s conviction because the law under which he was convicted was repealed three years ago and cannot legally sustain a trial or conviction.”
Speaking on the matter on Friday, the counsel emphasized that Section 98(3) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, which the court relied upon in the conviction, “only preserves past actions such as arrests, searches, or charges.” It does not preserve a repealed law or authorize a conviction under it, he has argued.
The counsel further noted that “Section 97 of the same Act requires that any ongoing trial be continued under the current law, making a 2025 conviction under a repealed statute legally untenable.”
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The counsel referenced Supreme Court rulings, including A.G. Lagos State v. Dosunmu and Uwaifo v. A.G. Bendel State, as well as Commonwealth authorities like Ho Po Sang (1961), noting that a “savings clause cannot resurrect a repealed law.”
Kanu was convicted of terrorism-related charges and bagged life imprisonment. He has been transferred to Sokoto prison.
He maintained that there was no law that was enforceable to warrant his conviction and often clashed with the court in his self defense.
While he has requested that he should be transferred to Abuja to enable him lodge his appeal, his Global Defence Consortium has continued to insist the law upon which he was convicted was dead, a position the presiding Justice James Omotosho disagreed with.
The defence insists that the appellate courts are expected to correct the legal errors, uphold the principle that repealed laws cannot sustain convictions, and ensure that the rule of law is maintained.