A member of the legal team representing the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Barrister Jude Njoku, has described the continued detention of his client as unconstitutional, insisting that no judicial pronouncement can override the supremacy of the Nigerian Constitution.
Njoku made the remarks in a statement issued on Saturday, reacting to recent claims suggesting that the Supreme Court’s ruling validated Kanu’s detention.
Kanu, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since June 2021, was first arrested in 2015 and charged with treasonable felony.
According to the lawyer, “Many Nigerians wrongly believe that the law is whatever the Supreme Court says it is. That’s false. Section 1(3) of the 1999 Constitution is clear — if any act or judgment violates the Constitution, it’s void. Even the Supreme Court cannot legalize illegality.”
He argued that the constitutional provisions governing criminal trials leave no ambiguity regarding the finality of a discharge and acquittal.
He explained that, “In criminal law, a discharge and acquittal means total freedom,” Njoku said. “Section 36(9) of the Constitution states clearly that no one shall be tried again for the same offence. That right is sacred and non-derogable.”
Njoku recalled that the Court of Appeal had in 2022 discharged and acquitted Kanu, ruling that his extraordinary rendition from Kenya was unlawful and that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to try him.
“When the Court of Appeal frees someone, as was done in the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, because the trial court had no jurisdiction, the case is over,” he stated.
“You can’t ‘continue’ a case that never legally existed. To attempt it is legal witchcraft — what lawyers call legal necromancy.”
Citing precedent from the apex court, Njoku referred to the Supreme Court’s decision in Ogbomor v. State (1985), where it held that a void proceeding remains void forever.
“Even the Supreme Court has admitted it before — a proceeding declared void remains void forever. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case is void,” he emphasized.
The lawyer further contended that Kanu’s ongoing detention offends both domestic and international legal instruments.
“Detaining someone after a court has discharged them is unconstitutional under Section 35 of the Constitution and illegal under Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Nigeria has domesticated,” Njoku said.
He warned that ignoring constitutional safeguards erodes public confidence in the judiciary and weakens Nigeria’s commitment to the rule of law.
“No democracy can survive when constitutional provisions are selectively applied,” he cautioned. “If court orders and constitutional rights can be ignored, then justice becomes a matter of convenience.”
Njoku reaffirmed that constitutional supremacy remains the cornerstone of Nigeria’s legal system. “The Constitution is supreme — not the Supreme Court,” he stated.
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