Kanu Writes CJN, Appeal Court President, Demands Urgent Hearing Of Cases

The family of the convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has disclosed that he has written to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the President of the Court of Appeal, demanding the urgent listing and determination of his pending cases.

The family, in a statement by the Okwu-Kanu Family and obtained by THE WHISTLER, said the requests followed what it described as the Federal Government’s failure to file substantive responses in one of the proceedings despite the passage of several months.

According to the family, Kanu commenced proceedings before the Supreme Court on November 7, 2025, challenging the legality of the apex court’s December 15, 2023 judgment remitting him for the continuation of his criminal proceedings.

It said the Federal Government was duly served with the suit on the same day but had, according to records available to the family, neither filed a substantive response nor caused the matter to be listed for hearing more than nine months later.

In a letter dated August 15, 2026, addressed to the CJN through the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Kanu requested that the suit be listed, heard and determined.

The letter, which was received by the Supreme Court on August 17, 2026, was written from the Sokoto Medium Security Custodial Centre, where Kanu is serving his jail term.

Titled, “Urgent Request For Listing And Determination Of My Pending Elected Suit Filed And Served On 7 November 2025,” the letter said Kanu had remained in detention since June 19, 2021.

“I write to request one thing: that my pending suit before the Supreme Court, filed on 7 November 2025 and served upon the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the same day, be listed, heard and determined,” Kanu stated.

He said he was making the request respectfully but would not “obscure the gravity of what has occurred with diplomatic euphemisms.”

“The facts are what they are. The record is what it is,” he said.

Kanu challenged the legality of his remittal for continuation of criminal proceedings, arguing that the proceedings were founded on legislation that had already been repealed.

He specifically cited the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, which came into force in May 2022, noting that Section 97 provides for the continuation of certain proceedings under the new legislation.

He also cited Section 98(1), which expressly repealed the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2013.

According to him, “The judgment of 15 December 2023 remitted me for continuation of criminal proceedings founded upon legislation which the National Assembly had already repealed.

“Yet I was remitted into proceedings constituted under the repealed statutory regime,” he added.

Kanu further complained that the jurisdictional challenge raised in his suit remained undetermined while he continued to be held in custody.

The Okwu-Kanu Family also disclosed that Kanu has a separate appeal before the Court of Appeal challenging his November 20, 2025 conviction and life sentence.

In the letter dated August 10, 2026, addressed to the President of the Court of Appeal through the Chief Registrar of the Abuja Division, Kanu requested the expedited listing of his pending motion, application for bail pending appeal and substantive appeal.

The appeal is identified as Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CR/393/2026, arising from Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015 between Nnamdi Kanu and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Kanu told the Court of Appeal that he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, alongside other terms, by the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 20, 2025.

He said the Record of Appeal was transmitted on March 9, 2026, while his Appellant’s Brief of Argument was filed on June 5, 2026, and duly served on the Federal Government.

“I am the Appellant in the above-numbered appeal. I was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment (and other terms) by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on 20th November 2025,” he stated.

“The Record of Appeal was transmitted on 9th March 2026. My Appellant’s Brief of Argument was filed on 5th June 2026 and duly served on the Respondent,” he added.

He consequently urged the Court of Appeal to list the pending applications and substantive appeal for hearing, citing what he described as the exceptional circumstances surrounding his continued detention.

The family questioned what it described as a disparity in the speed with which the judiciary acted when the Federal Government sought to prevent Kanu’s release in 2022 and the pace of proceedings concerning his current bid for freedom.

It recalled that the Court of Appeal, on October 13, 2022, delivered judgment discharging Kanu and quashing the criminal charges against him.

The family said that despite the judgment, the Federal Government obtained a civil stay of execution from a differently constituted panel of the Court of Appeal on October 28, 2022, 14 days after the discharge.

It argued that the criminal appeal had already been finally determined and that the Court of Appeal was therefore functus officio.

The family further contended that civil procedure could not lawfully be used to sustain Kanu’s detention after the criminal charges against him had been quashed.

It described the development as an unprecedented “hybridisation” of civil and criminal procedure, arguing that a civil stay was neither a criminal charge nor a remand order and could not revive quashed criminal counts.

“Fourteen days. In fourteen days, the machinery of the Court of Appeal moved from an acquittal-equivalent discharge to a civil stay that kept Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in detention,” the family stated.

The family said it was now demanding the same urgency in the handling of Kanu’s pending cases, stressing that he was not seeking special treatment but a prompt determination of his appeals.

“He is not asking for special treatment. He is asking that his pending cases be listed, heard and determined,” it said.

The Okwu-Kanu Family further disclosed that the United States Congress, Israeli Knesset and International Bar Association would be formally notified of the issues surrounding Kanu’s cases.

It said the notifications would draw attention to what it considers significant legal and procedural questions surrounding his continued detention and the handling of his pending appeals.