Abuja — Barrister Onyedikachi Ifedi, a lawyer representing detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, has condemned the December 15, 2023 judgment of the Supreme Court as a “legal nullity” and a “judicial mutiny” against the Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
In a statement on Thursday, Ifedi said the apex court erred by remitting Kanu’s trial to the Federal High Court on repealed charges, insisting the ruling violated binding precedent and stripped Kanu of protections under both Nigerian and international law.
Citing Abacha v. Fawehinmi (2000), a landmark seven-man panel decision that gave the African Charter equal standing with the Constitution’s Chapter IV, Ifedi argued that the five-man panel in FRN v. Kanu acted per incuriam by disregarding binding precedent.
“This was not merely a miscarriage of justice. It was a judicial mutiny against the Constitution, the African Charter, and binding precedent,” he declared, warning that the ruling undermines protections against extraordinary rendition, torture, and state abuse.
He further cautioned that allowing the judgment to stand would erode human rights protections for all Nigerians, replacing the rule of law with “judicial convenience.”
Kanu, arrested in Kenya and subjected to what his lawyers call “extraordinary rendition,” has been in DSS custody since June 2021. While the Court of Appeal discharged him in October 2022, the Supreme Court overturned that decision in December 2023, permitting his trial to continue despite global criticism.
Ifedi concluded that the ruling “is void for failure to adhere to stare decisis” and would be remembered “as a monument to judicial betrayal.”
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