Follow Us on Google
From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said the conviction judgment delivered by Justice James Omotoso on November 20, 2025, has triggered what it described as a crisis of institutional credibility for the Nigerian judiciary.
The submission followed the Federal Government’s filing of a cross-appeal in the case involving the IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement issued by IPOB spokesperson, Emma Powerful, the group argued that the Federal Government’s cross-appeal had implicated the Nigerian judiciary itself by allegedly conceding that the trial court acted without jurisdiction in sentencing Kanu to life imprisonment instead of death.
IPOB mentioned portions of the respondent’s brief of argument filed on October 5, claiming the Federal Republic of Nigeria admitted that Justice Omotoso acted without jurisdiction in imposing the sentence.
“That admission changes everything. The Federal Government has effectively fired a cannon through the heart of the judgment it is simultaneously attempting to defend,” the statement read in part.
The group argued that jurisdiction is indivisible, insisting that if the court lacked jurisdiction to impose a sentence, it equally lacked jurisdiction to convict.
IPOB further argued that Kanu’s appellant’s brief raised eight separate issues capable of nullifying the conviction, including allegations that proceedings were founded on repealed statutes, denial of final address and allocutus, failure to determine jurisdictional objections, and reliance on provisions allegedly not pleaded by the prosecution.
The group described the appeal as a test for the judiciary, urging observers within and outside Nigeria to monitor proceedings closely.
Kanu was convicted on November 20, 2025, by Justice Omotoso of the Federal High Court. Both the defence and the Federal Government have appealed the judgment, with the government seeking an upward review of the sentence through its cross-appeal.
The Court of Appeal is yet to fix a hearing date, while the Federal Government has not publicly responded to IPOB’s latest claims.
