The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has threatened to boycott the 2027 general elections in the South East and other parts of what it calls Biafraland if the Federal Government fails, within 14 days, to ensure that Nnamdi Kanu’s pending appeal is listed and heard.
The group’s Head of Directorate of State, Mazi Chris Nwaogu, issued the warning after Kanu’s family revealed that he had written to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President of the Court of Appeal asking for his cases to be listed without delay.
Nwaogu said the Federal Government had not filed a Respondent’s brief in the appeal and had not taken any step to bring the matter before the Court of Appeal. He accused the government of acting fast to convict Kanu but avoiding the appeal against that conviction.
“The Federal Government has not filed a Respondent’s brief; they have not listed the appeal; they have not come to court. A country that rushed to convict is now too frightened to defend the conviction,” he said.
He said IPOB would consider a boycott of the 2027 polls across Biafraland if the government did not act within the 14 days given. “We are giving them 14 days to list Nnamdi Kanu’s appeal; if they refuse, we will consider boycotting the coming elections across Biafraland and beyond. A government that cannot face its Court of Appeal has no right to demand our votes,” he said.
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Nwaogu also criticised the Nigerian judiciary over how Kanu’s case had been handled from the trial court to the appellate courts, and faulted the Supreme Court judgment that overturned his discharge and acquittal by the Court of Appeal. He singled out the judgment delivered by Justice Lawal Garba, saying the apex court went beyond its powers by ruling on counts that the Court of Appeal had already quashed.
“This judicial conspiracy through the trial court to the remittal and the present silence will shame the Chief Justice of Nigeria and all lawyers who still pretend this system is healthy. This case will either reset the Nigerian judiciary or expose it,” he said.
The case has gone through several courts
Kanu was first arrested in 2015 on charges connected to terrorism and other offences. He was granted bail in 2017 but disappeared from Nigeria after security forces carried out an operation at his residence that same year.
He resurfaced in 2021 after his arrest in Kenya and his return to Nigeria. His lawyers challenged how he was brought back, calling it an extraordinary rendition.
In October 2022, the Court of Appeal in Abuja discharged and acquitted him, ruling that the manner of his return had affected the legal basis for his continued prosecution. The Supreme Court later overturned that decision, setting aside his discharge and acquittal and sending the case back for further proceedings.
Kanu’s family has said he wrote directly to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President of the Court of Appeal asking that his pending appeal be listed and heard immediately, a request that came before IPOB issued its own ultimatum to the government.
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