Barrister Njoku Jude Njoku, legal counsel for Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has accused the Supreme Court of Nigeria of misinterpreting key legal principles in its handling of Kanu’s case.
In a statement released on Monday, Njoku criticized the court’s stance on Kanu’s retrial, calling it a misinterpretation of the constitutional protection against double jeopardy and the definition of a “superior court.” He argued that Nigerian courts have historically depended on outdated legal precedents to justify retrials by declaring previous trials null and void—effectively acting as if no trial had taken place.
Njoku pointed out that this approach contradicts Section 36(9) of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits trying an individual more than once for the same offense. He also noted that judges often mistakenly interpret “superior court” to mean a higher court within the judicial hierarchy, citing older cases such as Orakunnure v. State (1969) and Erekannure v. State (1973) as the basis for this flawed reasoning.
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