The Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium has claimed that an eight-day “jurisdictional vacuum” following the Court of Appeal’s acquittal of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader nullified his ongoing trial by the Nigerian government.
In an advocacy brief dated October 12, 2025, and signed by Dr. Idawarifa C. Ebirien, Co-Chair of the Consortium, the group argued that between October 13, 2022, when the Court of Appeal discharged and acquitted Kanu, and October 21, 2022, when a stay of execution was issued by a panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, no legal authority existed to continue his prosecution.
The statement, titled *“Exposing the Jurisdictional Farce: The Eight-Day Death of Nnamdi Kanu’s Prosecution and the Corrupt Panel Stay That Defied Justice,”* described the ongoing trial as a “zombie proceeding” sustained by executive interference and judicial misconduct.
According to the Consortium, the eight-day gap rendered the prosecution legally void, as the acquittal had already taken full effect, nullifying all charges and remand orders against Kanu. It stressed that during this period, there was no valid legal process in place, meaning Kanu’s detention by the Department of State Services (DSS) was unlawful.
The statement further criticised the Court of Appeal panel’s October 21, 2022, stay of execution, describing it as an “unlawful civil-procedure intervention” in a criminal matter. It cited several Supreme Court judgments affirming that criminal acquittals take immediate effect and cannot be stayed.
The Consortium accused the Tsammani panel of issuing an “ultra vires” order to sustain executive lawlessness, saying the decision “resurrected a dead case.” It argued that even the Supreme Court’s December 2023 decision to order a retrial did not restore the repealed 2011/2013 Terrorism Act under which Kanu was charged.
Calling the current trial a “legal phantom,” the group urged the United Nations, the African Union, and the International Criminal Court to intervene, investigate judicial corruption, and secure Kanu’s release.
“The eight-day vacuum killed his prosecution; the Tsammani panel’s stay mocked it; and the 2022 repeal buried it beyond revival,” the Consortium declared, insisting that the IPOB leader’s continued detention represents a grave assault on justice and the rule of law.
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