₦airaland Forum

There are moments in every nation’s legal history when a single court ruling forces the country to confront an uncomfortable question: Are we a nation governed by laws, or by the moods and improvisations of those who interpret them?

Justice Binta Nyako’s court produced one such moment in 2017. Now, Justice Omotosho of the Federal High Court has produced another.

At the center of this legal storm is one man: Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and one disturbing judicial choice: to insist on conducting a criminal trial under a repealed law.

This is not merely a legal technicality.It is a constitutional earthquake.

The Law Is Clear: A Repealed Statute Cannot Sustain a Trial

In any country that claims to operate under the rule of law, this would not even be a debate.

The Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013 (TPAA) was repealed by the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022 (TPPA).

This is not an opinion.

It is a matter of record.

Yet in ruling after ruling—both in the no-case submission and the final judgment—Justice Omotosho never once took judicial notice of this repeal.

Instead, he inserted the now infamous phrase:

“Assuming, without conceding, that the TPAA is repealed…”

Assuming?

Without conceding?

One does not “assume” a repeal.

One acknowledges it as a matter of law.

The Evidence Act mandates courts to take judicial notice of all enacted laws.

Supreme Court decisions—from NNPC v Fawehinmi to Abacha v Fawehinmi—state clearly that failure to take judicial notice of the law vitiates proceedings.

Not weakens them.

Not complicates them.

Nullifies them.

Yet here we are.

The Savings Clause Cannot Resurrect a Dead Law

Defenders of Justice Omotosho have clung to Section 98(3) of TPPA like a drowning man to driftwood, insisting it allows the judge to proceed under TPAA as if TPPA never existed.

But this is intellectually dishonest.

Savings clauses do not and have never resurrected dead statutes.

Nigerian case law is overwhelming:

AG Lagos v Dosunmu — repeal extinguishes the legal force of the old law.

Uwaifo v AG Bendel — a repealed statute cannot be used to impose new liabilities or sustain ongoing proceedings unless properly migrated.

Afolabi v Governor of Osun State — a savings clause preserves rights, not jurisdiction.

Savings clauses preserve past liabilities, not procedural frameworks.

You cannot run a 2024 trial under a 2013 law simply because both once dealt with terrorism.

If this logic stood, Nigeria could still conduct trials under:

the 1979 Constitution,

military decrees from 1998,

or even colonial ordinances.
The absurdity speaks for itself.

The Supreme Court’s Misstep and the Ripple Effect

It is no secret in legal circles that the Supreme Court’s December 2023 judgment created the confusion Justice Omotosho is now exploiting.

In what can only be described as a per incuriam oversight, the Court declared that TPAA and CEMA were “extant” when both had been repealed.

That single line has now become a shield for judicial stubbornness.

But even the Supreme Court cannot breathe life into a repealed statute.

If they made an error, the remedy is clarification—not perpetuation.

Why Nigerians Should Be Worried

This is not about sympathizing with Nnamdi Kanu.

This is about what kind of judiciary Nigerians want.

Because if a judge can ignore:

the Constitution,

the Evidence Act,

binding precedents,

and an extant federal statute…

…then every Nigerian citizen is vulnerable.

If a repealed law can be used today because a judge “assumes without conceding” that it was repealed, then no one is safe from arbitrary prosecution.

When legality becomes negotiable, liberty becomes expendable.

The Human Cost of Institutional Pride

Some ask: Why won’t Justice Omotosho simply apply the correct law?

The answer is uncomfortable:

Admitting the mistake would unravel the entire trial and embarrass the judicial establishment.

And nothing terrifies the Nigerian judiciary more than public embarrassment.

So instead of correcting the error, the system doubles down.

Instead of acknowledging illegality, it manufactures logic to justify it.

Instead of upholding justice, it protects institutional ego.

Meanwhile, one man—whether you support his politics or not—sits in solitary confinement, his liberty suspended, his health deteriorating, all because the system prefers stubbornness over justice.

A Judiciary Must Choose: Law or Ego

What is at stake here is not Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s personality.

It is the soul of Nigerian jurisprudence.

A judiciary that refuses to obey its own laws is not a court of justice.

It is a court of convenience.

Justice Omotosho’s ruling must not be allowed to stand—not because of politics, but because of precedent.

If this judicial experiment is permitted to settle into law, Nigeria will wake up one day to find that:

statutes no longer matter,

repeals no longer matter,

jurisdiction no longer matters,

and due process is whatever a judge says it is.

That is the road to judicial anarchy.

And Nigeria has suffered enough.


https://saharareporters.com/2025/12/03/judiciary-war-its-own-laws-tragic-case-justice-omotosho-and-mazi-nnamdi-kanu-njoku-jude

The OP is just on an emotional rambling journey.


Zero % logic, 100% emotions

stuffs2002:
The OP is just on an emotional rambling journey.


Zero % logic, 100% emotions

Can you explain this statement by Omotosho logically.
"Assuming, without conceding, that the TPAA is repealed…"

Well said! ..... OP, the writer is too generous with words as it is not a case of institutional ego but institutional corruption. There is no way to sugarcoat the illegality, corruption and injustice that characterize Nigeria's judiciary. Injustice Omotosho will forever be remembered as the shameless corrupt judge that destroyed what was left of Nigeria's judicial integrity internationally over his flagrant disregard/violation of section 1 (3), section 36 (9) and section 36 (12) of the 1999 constitution against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu... Supreme Court judges are also complicit, if there are still good men in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), there should be massive calls within the NBA to disbar these corrupt judges.....

Can this thread be featured on Nairaland home page.... Nlfpmod

E nor no law, e nor no law, na Im dey land person for prison.

Don't worry, e go soon reach all nairaland ESN terrorists.

Stay here and be calling Omotosho up and down instead of thanking him for not giving that mentally disturbed man the death sentence.

Go and beg mama miracle if you ever want to see kanu free. The woman used her blood to curse that mentally sick man and his group .

Even if Tinubu grants him a presidential pardon, dem go still kpai him , e no go last until you all stop lamenting and do the needful

shortgun:
Can you explain this statement by Omotosho logically.
"Assuming, without conceding, that the TPAA is repealed…"

What is there to explain? Are the laws in Nigeria no longer applicable to Igbos?

Igbos should be kneeling and thanking Omotosho for not sending Nnamdi Kanu to the gallows because Kanu 100% deserves the death sentence and I sincerely hope Kanu gets the death sentence in his appeal.



I am not Igbo so do not come near me with all your emotional rants devoid of logic.

A propaganda Fake News Machine at War with its own self and people just because it cannot swallow the Truth

I

shortgun:
Can you explain this statement by Omotosho logically.
"Assuming, without conceding, that the TPAA is repealed…"

That is simple, he is just telling you that even if the TPAA is repealed, though he knows it is not repealed, Your 'Saviour' 'Kwanu' is still 'Guilty'.

He will still be sentenced to life in prission.

LET THE HOSTS:-
ARCHBISHOP KUKAH AND
THE SOS COMMENT PLEASE.

LET THE HOSTS:-
ARCHBISHOP KUKAH AND
THE SOS COMMENT PLEASE.

AKOS & SOS

LET THE HOSTS:-
ARCHBISHOP KUKAH AND
THE SOS COMMENT PLEASE.

Senior Advocate of Nsukka.

How come nobody is mentioning the Igbo judge amongnst the judges

shortgun:
Can you explain this statement by Omotosho logically.
"Assuming, without conceding, that the TPAA is repealed…"

The law used to convict Kanu wasn't repealed as claimed.

The law was simply amended by expanding it.

The amended law even stated clearly that the new act did not see to an end of all ongoing cases or convictions as those were still captured in the new law.

It is also not the Judge's duty to guide any party before it especially an arrogant defendant who had sacked his own legal team to represent himself .

The judge's only role is to look at the facts and evidence brought before it.

That is why Justice Omotosho did not respond to kanu's outbursts in court demanding that Omotosho should point out the section of the criminal code he was standing trial for.

Omotosho's final ruling is available online and no single lawyer has faulted it rather the ones from your side are now doing whataboutism and now begging for President Tinubu to grant kanu a release based on a pardon.

If they have an argument against Omotosho's final ruling , why are they not all appealing his conviction?

Speaking of appeals, Kanu's appeal will not be challenging Omotosho's ruling but will rather be more interested in a reduced sentence which will be denied since Omotosho was magnanimous enough to sentence kanu to life instead of the death sentence he got.

Kanu will spend a good length of time behind bars because I don't see Tinubu releasing him .

Tinubu will leave that decision to a northern President who I know will in turn deny Kanu a pardon.

So Kanu has at least 14ys to spend until 2037.

shortgun:
Engaging in a debate with you people is basically an invitation to become dumber
A judge is blatantly lying about a law that no longer exists and you still have the nerve to defend that disgraceful judge.

Your blindness by choice is your problem not mine.

Its the same blindness that made you believe that Buhari had been replaced by 'Jubrin from Sudan'.

Or that 'Tinubu lost the election because he didnt score 25% in Abuja'.

There are so many instances that you have by choice abandoned your God given intelect and choosen instead to propagate babyish consiperacies and yet you are always quick to call others Dumb.

Assuming I am Dumb,though not agreeing , what word should we then use to describe you?.

DomPerignon:
The law used to convict Kanu wasn't repealed as claimed.

The law was simply amended by expanding it.

The amended law even stated clearly that the new act did not see to an end of all ongoing cases or convictions as those were still captured in the new law.

It is also not the Judge's duty to guide any party before it especially an arrogant defendant who had sacked his own legal team to represent himself .

The judge's only role is to look at the facts and evidence brought before it.

That is why Justice Omotosho did not respond to kanu's outbursts in court demanding that Omotosho should point out the section of the criminal code he was standing trial for.

Omotosho's final ruling is available online and no single lawyer has faulted it rather the ones from your side are now doing whataboutism and now begging for President Tinubu to grant kanu a release based on a pardon.

If they have an argument against Omotosho's final ruling , why are they not all appealing his conviction?

Speaking of appeals, Kanu's appeal will not be challenging Omotosho's ruling but will rather be more interested in a reduced sentence which will be denied since Omotosho was magnanimous enough to sentence kanu to life instead of the death sentence he got.

Kanu will spend a good length of time behind bars because I don't see Tinubu releasing him .

Tinubu will leave that decision to a northern President who I know will in turn deny Kanu a pardon.

So Kanu has at least 14ys to spend until 2037.

You are wasting your precious time explaining anything logical to these people. Allow them to open as many sugary threads to make themselves happy in their heads on Nairaland.com. It can never change the reality on ground that Nnamdi Kanu is incarcerated on a life imprisonment jail term in the sweltering heat of a Sokoto correctional facility.

God bless Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

chiagozien:
God bless Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

and god bless federal republic of nigeria

fregeneh:
and god bless federal republic of nigeria

with more bandits and terrorists?

chiagozien:
with more bandits and terrorists?

regardless!!!

shortgun:
Well,looking at Nigeria's history, every keen observer will see a pattern.

Nnamdi Kanu is reliving the Obafemi Awolowo ordeals. Awolowo was also convicted of terrorism in Lagos and sent to faraway Calabar prison by the Federal government of his day, only to be released later and become a national hero. I see Nnamdi Kanu coming out a celebrated national hero just like Awolowo

What do you people gain from creating and telling lies.

Awolowo was convicted of trying to overthrow the government and not terrorism because Awolowo never incited anyone kill Nigerians

stuffs2002:

What do you people gain from creating and telling lies.

Awolowo was convicted of trying to overthrow the government and not terrorism because Awolowo never incited anyone kill Nigerians

Ask your elders about why Awolowo was convicted and sent to calabar prison or read books.

The federal government charged Awolowo for the use of violent elements and explosives to destabilize the country and take over the government. He was charged with treasonable felony, illegal possession of firearms, creating an armed militant group....
Awolowo and others had created a secret militant wing called the "Revolutionary People's Army."

This group was tasked with executing a violent insurrection against the federal government.
recruitment of individuals, guerrilla training and the illegal importation of firearms and explosives meant for this group.

The star witness against Awolowo was Tony Enahoro, his close associate and former Action Group publicity secretary, he testified against Awolowo after being apprehended and returned to Nigeria from the UK.
His testimony was very crucial for Awolowo's conviction.

shortgun:
Well,looking at Nigeria's history, every keen observer will see a pattern.

Nnamdi Kanu is reliving the Obafemi Awolowo ordeals. Awolowo was also convicted of terrorism in Lagos and sent to faraway Calabar prison by the Federal government of his day, only to be released later and become a national hero. I see Nnamdi Kanu coming out a celebrated national hero just like Awolowo

This will make sense if you can show us a clip or a publication by Awo, that asked anyone to kill anyone .

Mind you at the time Awo was sent to prison, He had already contributed to the fight for independence, he had been a tranformative premier and the head of opposition at the Federal level.

Who is Kanu, before he started deceiving you people that 'Buhari' is 'Junrin'?

He is mindless criminal that found the people of the SE a gullible audience.