The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has submitted a fresh motion to the Supreme Court, asking the apex court to review its earlier judgment ordering his retrial in his case against the Federal Government.
In the new motion, marked SC/CR/1361/2022, Kanu requested an extension of time to allow him to apply for a review of the Supreme Court’s December 18, 2023, ruling. He explained that he only gained full access to his case files on October 26, 2025, for the first time since his detention, after deciding to represent himself.
Kanu argued that upon carefully reviewing the court records, he discovered that the 2023 judgment was based on outdated laws that were no longer valid at the time it was delivered. He said the decision failed to consider the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act of 2022, which replaced earlier statutes that formed the basis of the court’s ruling.
He noted that this oversight made the decision unconstitutional and inconsistent with the provisions of Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 122 of the Evidence Act, 2011.
In his motion, Kanu urged the court to “grant leave to review the judgment” and “extend the time within which the application may be filed,” stressing that the delay in filing the review was not deliberate but caused by the restrictions of his detention.
He stated that his application was a sincere attempt to correct what he described as a “jurisdictional error” and to restore justice, insisting that the issue raised concerns the very foundation of legal authority and must not be dismissed on technical grounds.
The motion was supported by an affidavit sworn by Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, who explained that his brother had been unable to properly review his case earlier due to limited access to his legal documents and counsel while in detention.
Emmanuel added that after personally examining the case files, Nnamdi Kanu found that the Supreme Court’s decision had relied on repealed laws, prompting him to immediately seek a motion to set aside the judgment and request an extension of time to do so.
Kanu is now asking the Supreme Court to revisit its 2023 judgment and consider his new evidence, which he believes shows that his retrial order was made in error.
