Kanu's Family Petitions CJN, Court of Appeal President Over Delayed Hearings

The family of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, has formally petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, and the President of the Court of Appeal, seeking urgent action on two cases central to his continued detention.

Two Cases, One Complaint

In a statement endorsed by Prince Emmanuel Kanu on behalf of the Okwu-Kanu Family, the family said Kanu commenced proceedings at the Supreme Court on 7 November 2025, challenging the legality of the apex court's 15 December 2023 judgment that remitted him for continued trial. Although the Federal Government was served the same day, the family says no substantive response has been filed and the matter remains unlisted more than nine months later.

Separately, Kanu's appeal against his conviction and life sentence, delivered by the Federal High Court on 20 November 2025, remains pending before the Court of Appeal. His Appellant's Brief was filed and served on 5 June 2026, but the family says the government's window to file a Respondent's Brief has since lapsed without any filing.

A Letter Dated 10 August

In a letter dated 10 August 2026 addressed to the President of the Court of Appeal through the Chief Registrar of the Abuja Division, Kanu personally requested expedited listing of his pending motion, his application for bail pending appeal, and the substantive appeal itself, identified as Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CR/393/2026.

Not Asking for a Favourable Outcome

The family was careful to frame the request as procedural rather than substantive, stating that Kanu is not asking either court to rule in his favour, only that the cases be placed before the appropriate panels and heard. They pointed to the speed with which the Court of Appeal acted in 2022, when a differently constituted panel granted a stay of execution within fourteen days of an earlier judgment discharging Kanu, and contrasted that with the current pace.

Background

Kanu was rearrested in Kenya in June 2021 after fleeing Nigeria in 2017 while facing treasonable felony and firearms charges. His trial, restarted in March 2025 following earlier judicial recusals, concluded with his conviction and life sentence in November 2025. The Record of Appeal was transmitted to the Court of Appeal on 9 March 2026.

The family's petitions add pressure on Nigeria's judiciary at a time when questions of case backlog and docket delay across the appellate courts remain under public scrutiny