The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has urged the Court of Appeal to reject the Federal Government’s cross-appeal in the case involving its convicted leader, Nnamdi Kanu, arguing that the government’s position amounts to an acknowledgment that part of the trial court’s judgment was delivered without jurisdiction.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the factional spokesman of the separatist movement, Emma Powerful, the group said the Federal Government’s Notice of Cross-Appeal against the judgment delivered by Justice J.K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on November 20, 2025, effectively conceded that the trial court lacked jurisdiction when it imposed life sentences on some counts.
According to IPOB, Kanu agrees with the position allegedly reflected in the government’s filing and maintains that it casts doubt on the validity of the sentencing proceedings.
“Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu accepts this premise in toto. We adopt the Federal Government’s own words as our own. If the trial Court acted without jurisdiction at the sentencing phase, then the entire sentencing exercise is a nullity ab initio,” the statement said.
The group argued that a court’s jurisdiction cannot be compartmentalised between conviction and sentencing, stressing that a valid conviction cannot coexist with a lack of jurisdiction to impose punishment on the same charges.
“Jurisdiction is not divisible. It is a sacred continuum. You cannot validly convict a man and then lack jurisdiction to sentence him on the same counts. That is judicial absurdity,” the group stated.
IPOB also cited the Supreme Court judgment in Madukolu v. Nkemdilim (1962), contending that any proceeding conducted without jurisdiction remains invalid irrespective of the manner in which it was carried out.
The group further maintained that the appellate court lacks the legal authority to correct a jurisdictional defect which it said the Federal Government had already admitted.
“With the greatest respect, the Court of Appeal lacks the power to repair, cure, or resuscitate what the Respondent itself has declared jurisdictionally dead,” IPOB added.
The organisation criticised the government’s cross-appeal, describing it as contradictory to challenge aspects of the sentencing process while at the same time seeking a stiffer punishment.
“The FG cannot approbate and reprobate. They cannot admit the sentencing phase was conducted without jurisdiction and in the same breath urge the Court of Appeal to impose the death penalty on that same rotten foundation. This is not law; this is legal gymnastics born out of desperation and bad faith,” the statement read.
IPOB also alleged that the move was designed to pressure Kanu into abandoning the Biafra struggle but insisted that such efforts would not succeed.
“If the ill-thought-out Cross-Appeal orchestrated by the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Chief (Adegboyega) Awomolo, SAN, and the Yoruba APC Presidency is aimed at intimidating Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu into renouncing Biafra, then they have grossly miscalculated,” the group said.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is the reincarnation of the indomitable Biafran spirit and will never yield to such cheap blackmail.”
The group described the cross-appeal as a sign that the prosecution’s case was weakening.
“This self-destructive Cross-Appeal is a clear manifestation of divine intervention and the inevitable collapse of the entire fabricated case against Onyendu,” IPOB stated.
“The Federal Government has handed us the sledgehammer to demolish their own conviction. The sentencing is void. The foundation is shattered. The entire prosecution stands on quicksand.”
IPOB subsequently called on the Court of Appeal to throw out the government’s application and uphold Kanu’s appeal.
“We call on the Court of Appeal to do justice by dismissing the Cross-Appeal with ignominy and allowing the Appellant’s main appeal in its entirety, leading to the immediate and unconditional release of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” the statement added.
While reiterating its support for Kanu and the Biafra cause, the group expressed confidence that the movement would endure despite ongoing legal battles.
“The world is watching. History is watching. No amount of judicial acrobatics or cheap intimidation can cure a fundamental lack of jurisdiction. The Lion of Biafra remains unbowed, and the spirit of Biafra remains unconquerable,” IPOB said.
