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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has asked the Supreme Court to set aside its December 15, 2023 judgment, which remitted his trial back to the Federal High Court.
The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal had in its judgment rendered on October 13, 2022, acquitted him and barred the Federal Government from further prosecuting him.
However, upon an appeal by the Federal Government against the decision, the Supreme Court in the verdict in the suit number SC/CR/1361/2022, overturned the judgment and remitted Kanu’s terrorism trial to the Federal High Court for continued prosecution.
But Kanu, in a motion filed on November 6, 2025, is asking the apex court to set aside the December 15, 2023, judgment for want of jurisdiction.
The pro-Biafra agitator is contending that the judgment was rooted on statutes, which had ceased to exist in law.
The motion, brought pursuant to Section 6(6)(A) of the Constitution, is between Kanu, respondent/applicant, appearing in person, and the Federal Government of Nigeria, appellant/respondent.
Among the reliefs sought in the motion is an order extending the time within which the applicant (Kanu) may seek leave to apply for an order for review of the December 15, 2023 judgment.
Kanu also asked the Supreme Court to grant him leave to apply for an order reviewing the said December 15, 2023 judgment, as well as an order extending the time within which he may file the application for review of the judgment.
The applicant explained that by reason of his detention in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), and the previous external conduct of his defence, he was not able to review the December 15, 2023 judgment until he recently took charge of his case.
According to him, he obtained the complete case file of his prosecution on October 26, 2025.
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It is in contention that “Upon a meticulous examination of the record, the applicant discovered, with profound juridical concern, that the judgment of this Honourable Court on December 15, 2023 was delivered per incuriam, having been predicated on statutes, which at the material time, had ceased to exist in law.
He added that, “the decision, though solemn in pronouncement, was, therefore, made sub silentio of the extant Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and stands in patent violation of Section 36(12) of the Constitution and Section 122 of the Evidence Act 2011.”
The IPOB leader further explained that upon the discovery, he immediately filed an application for enlargement of time to file a motion to set aside the judgment.
He noted that the interlude between the December 15, 2023 judgment and the instant application was not due to his own making.
The motion stated that, “the complaint now raised touches the very root of jurisdiction, a domain to which time and technicality pay no homage. The equitable discretion of this Honourable Court is, therefore, humbly invited to extend the time ex debito justitiae, for the correction of a manifest nullity and the restoration of constitutional order.”
His younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, who deposed the affidavit in support of the motion, noted that since the delivery of the December 15, 2023 Supreme Court judgment, the IPOB leader had remained in detention under conditions that restricted his access to counsel, case materials and the certified record of proceedings.
He added that on or about October 21, 2025, Kanu resolved to assume control of his case in order to ensure a thorough personal review and pursue appropriate redress where necessary.
According to him, a denial of the motion for additional time to file an application to set aside the December 15, 2023 judgment would “perpetuate a palpable miscarriage of justice and an enduring stain upon judicial regularity.”
The development is coming as Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja Federal High Court has fixed November 20, 2025, to deliver judgment in Kanu’s trial.
Before that, Kanu had declared that he can’t be convicted with a non-existent law.
