The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government, demanding the immediate listing and hearing of the appeal filed by its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, warning of a total boycott of elections across the South-East region and beyond if the demand is not met .
In a statement issued on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group accused the Nigerian government of lacking urgency in handling the appellate process, contrasting it with the speed it allegedly demonstrated during Kanu’s prosecution and conviction . “The Federal Government was in a hurry to prosecute and convict Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Now that the conviction is before the Court of Appeal, that same urgency has disappeared,” Powerful stated .
IPOB demanded answers to what it described as fundamental legal questions surrounding Kanu’s conviction and continued detention. “Under which extant written law was Mazi Nnamdi Kanu convicted on 20 November 2025? What specific crime, cognisable under Nigerian law, justifies his continued detention after nearly six years?” the group asked .
The group further raised concerns about the legal basis for the continuation of Kanu’s criminal trial following the remittal of the case by the Supreme Court . IPOB argued that a criminal proceeding whose counts had been quashed could not simply be revived by describing it as a continuation without a constitutional or statutory basis . The group insisted that subject-matter jurisdiction is conferred only by the Constitution or statute and cannot be created by judicial declaration .
IPOB warned that failure to list and hear the appeal within the 14-day period would trigger its call for a total boycott of forthcoming elections across Biafraland and beyond .
Addressing critics who may argue that an election boycott could benefit President Bola Tinubu, IPOB said it did not support a boycott during the 2023 general elections and remained neutral at the time . The group noted that despite full participation, the 2023 election results were disputed and the subsequent legal challenges were unsuccessful . “If full participation did not prevent what happened in 2023, then a boycott cannot reasonably be blamed for what may happen in 2027,” Powerful stated .
IPOB described the electoral process as a recurring cycle of voting, alleged rigging, litigation and waiting for another election, arguing that repeated participation in a process believed to be structurally incapable of delivering justice raises questions about political progress . The group maintained that a collective refusal to participate would constitute a political verdict—a people withdrawing their consent from a system they no longer trust .
The group urged those opposed to its threatened boycott to instead pressure the Federal Government to ensure that Kanu’s appeal is promptly heard . “Stop arguing about a boycott Nigeria can still prevent. Direct that energy at Abuja. List the appeal. Hear the appeal. Defend the conviction,” IPOB said .
IPOB again demanded answers to what it called three central questions: “WHICH LAW? WHICH COGNISABLE CRIME? BY WHAT LAW CAN A TERMINATED CASE BE ‘CONTINUED’?” . The group accused the government of keeping Kanu in detention while allowing legal challenges to his conviction and the jurisdictional basis of his trial to remain unresolved .
The Federal Government has yet to respond to the ultimatum, which comes amid ongoing delays in the appellate process. Kanu’s family had previously disclosed that he wrote to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President of the Court of Appeal requesting the immediate listing and hearing of his pending cases . The appeal was filed after Kanu was convicted on November 20, 2025, by the Federal High Court in Abuja on terrorism-related charges and sentenced to life imprisonment .