Nnamdi Kanu Cannot Be Convicted Under Repealed Law, Lawyer Argues

The legal team of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu has challenged the scheduled November 20, 2025 judgment in his terrorism trial, insisting that the court cannot convict him under a repealed statute.

Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja Federal High Court had fixed the date for judgment in a case that has stretched over several years. Kanu’s defence maintains that the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, under which he was charged, was repealed by the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.

Christopher Chidera, a member of the Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium, argued in a press statement on Wednesday that prosecuting Kanu under a repealed law is unconstitutional. “Not one Nigerian court, from the Supreme Court to the High Court, has ever sustained a trial or conviction under a repealed statute. Every known attempt was quashed as a nullity,” Chidera said.

He emphasized that “there can be no conviction without a written law in force at trial,” and criticized the court for continuing the prosecution despite the repeal. Kanu had reportedly asked Justice Omotosho why he was being tried under a law that no longer exists, but received no response.

Chidera cited precedent to support his position, referencing Abacha v. State (2002) 11 NWLR (Pt. 779) 437 and FRN v. Osahon (2006) 5 NWLR (Pt. 973) 361, noting that repealed laws cannot sustain criminal proceedings and that offences extinguished by repeal cannot be revived by general savings clauses.

The defence also pointed to Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits conviction for offences not “defined and in force” at the time of trial. “Dead law equals dead case,” Chidera asserted. “Any plea or conviction under a repealed statute is void ab initio.”

According to the defence team, Kanu’s current trial, which began anew in December 2023 after an appellate court ordered a retrial, is a fresh proceeding. Since the 2013 Act was repealed in May 2022, the statute was not in force at the time of trial, rendering the case null and void.

Chidera concluded, “Repeal kills prosecution instantly and irrevocably. To continue a trial under a repealed law is to conduct a trial without law, an act forbidden by the Constitution and condemned by legal precedent.”