The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has written separately to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President of the Court of Appeal, demanding the immediate listing and hearing of his pending cases challenging his continued detention, conviction and life imprisonment sentence.
Kanu’s family disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by Prince Emmanuel Kanu, accusing the Nigerian government of showing no willingness to participate in the legal proceedings while Kanu remains incarcerated.
According to the family, Kanu is not asking the courts to rule in his favour but simply wants his cases listed, heard and determined in accordance with the law.
The family questioned what it described as the contrasting speed with which the judiciary acted in October 2022 when the Federal Government sought to prevent Kanu from regaining his freedom.
It recalled that on October 13, 2022, the Court of Appeal discharged Kanu and quashed the criminal charges against him.
However, the Federal Government subsequently obtained a stay of execution on October 28, 2022, preventing Kanu from immediately benefiting from the judgment.
The family argued that the 14-day period between the Court of Appeal judgment and the stay of execution demonstrated the urgency with which the judicial process moved when the government sought to restrain Kanu’s liberty.
It questioned why, months later, similar urgency had allegedly not been demonstrated when Kanu was seeking judicial determination of the legality of his continued detention and life imprisonment.
“Fourteen days were enough for a differently constituted panel of a functus officio Court of Appeal to deploy civil procedure against an acquittal-equivalent discharge,” the family said.
“Months cannot now be acceptable merely to list proceedings in which that same man’s liberty is at stake.”
Kanu’s family further argued that the civil stay granted in October 2022 could not legally revive criminal charges that had already been quashed.
“A civil stay is not a criminal charge. A civil stay is not a remand warrant. A civil stay does not revive quashed criminal counts,” it stated.
The family said Kanu’s latest legal challenge before the Supreme Court commenced on November 7, 2025, and is challenging the legality of the Supreme Court’s December 15, 2023 remittal judgment.
According to the family, the Federal Government was served with the proceedings but, more than nine months later, had allegedly not filed a substantive response, while the case had also not been listed for hearing.
Kanu is also challenging his November 20, 2025 conviction and life imprisonment sentence before the Court of Appeal.
His family said his Appellant’s Brief was filed on June 5, 2026 and served on the Federal Government, but the prescribed period for the government to file its Respondent’s Brief had expired without any filing.
The appeal, it added, had also not been listed for hearing.
The family described the situation as unacceptable, particularly because the proceedings directly concern Kanu’s liberty.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not asking the Chief Justice of Nigeria or the President of the Court of Appeal to decide either case in his favour,” the family said.
“He is asking that the cases be placed before the appropriate panels and heard. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
The family challenged the Federal Government to appear before the courts if it believes that the Supreme Court’s remittal judgment and Kanu’s subsequent conviction and life sentence are lawful.
“If the Federal Government believes the Supreme Court remittal was lawful, let it appear and defend it,” the family said.
“If it believes the conviction and life sentence are lawful, let it file its papers and defend them. But silence and delay cannot become substitutes for adjudication.”
The family also announced plans to formally notify the United States Congress, the Israeli Knesset and the International Bar Association about what it described as an “unacceptable delay” in the determination of Kanu’s cases.
It said court records and the chronology of the proceedings would be presented to the international bodies for consideration.
According to the family, the international bodies would be asked to examine why Nigeria’s appellate courts were able to act within 14 days when the Federal Government sought to prevent Kanu’s release, but had allegedly failed to demonstrate comparable urgency when Kanu sought judicial determination of his continued detention and life sentence.
The family called on the Supreme Court to immediately list and hear Kanu’s case challenging the December 15, 2023 remittal judgment.
It also urged the Court of Appeal to list and hear his appeal against his conviction and life imprisonment without further delay.
The family further called on the Federal Government to appear before the courts and defend the legal basis for Kanu’s continued detention.
“We ask for no favour. We ask for no predetermined judgment,” the family said.
“We ask only that liberty receive at least the same judicial urgency previously given to its restraint.”
The family concluded by directly challenging the judiciary over the contrasting timelines.
“Fourteen days to act against his freedom. Months of delay when he seeks freedom. Explain the difference,” it said.
“List the cases. Hear them. Decide on them.”