Kanu’s Legal Team Rejects Court Transfer’s Ruling
The legal team of the convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has rejected Tuesday’s decision by the Federal High Court in Abuja to strike out his application seeking transfer from the Sokoto Correctional Centre, describing the ruling as “procedural theatre” and pledging to pursue the matter on appeal.
Justice James Omotosho had struck out the motion, ruling it incompetent.
Kanu had sought the transfer to a facility closer to Abuja to better prepare and prosecute his appeal against his life sentence.
The decision followed the withdrawal of a Legal Aid Council lawyer, who cited irreconcilable differences and challenges with representing Kanu.
In a statement issued by Njoku Jude Njoku, Esq., on behalf of the Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defense Consortium, the defence dismissed the ruling as irrelevant to the core issues of the case.
“Today’s so-called ‘hearing’ was never about justice. It was procedural theatre—designed to generate headlines, manufacture false finality, and distract from the constitutional collapse already embedded in the judgment under appeal,” the statement said.
The legal team argued that striking out the motion does not address what it described as fundamental defects in Kanu’s conviction.
“Striking out or not striking out changes nothing. This matter has moved irreversibly beyond the trial court. It is headed to the Court of Appeal, where the Nigerian judiciary itself will be on trial, not merely one judge,” the statement added.
The defence also criticised the reliance on a Legal Aid lawyer, noting that the lawyer had no access to Kanu in Sokoto and lacked understanding of the appeal’s structure.
“A lawyer who has never visited Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, cannot access him in Sokoto, and does not understand the architecture of the appeal, cannot pretend to speak to the substance of what is at stake,” the statement said.
According to the legal team, Kanu has been forced to draft his own court processes due to state-engineered barriers to his chosen counsel, calling any suggestion otherwise “a deception.”
The statement further accused the trial court of convicting Kanu without a valid offence-creating law, alleging lack of jurisdiction, abuse of savings clauses, denial of fair hearing, and reliance on unproven facts.
“A judge who cannot distinguish a repealed law from the strict and limited operation of a savings clause cannot salvage a conviction by procedural gymnastics,” the defence said, warning that such actions only compound appellate liability.
The team maintained that Kanu’s continued detention in Sokoto does not legitimise the ruling. “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention in Sokoto is not an endorsement of this charade. It is a silent exposure of it,” the statement read.
The legal team concluded that the appeal is unavoidable and that all issues surrounding Kanu’s conviction, sentence, and detention will now be placed before the Court of Appeal.
“Today’s event did not strengthen the judgment. It weakened it further. The appeal is inevitable. The law will be read—properly,” they said.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
