Legal Storm Grows Over Justice Omotosho’s Handling of Nnamdi Kanu Terrorism Trial
Legal Storm Grows Over Justice Omotosho’s Handling of Nnamdi Kanu Terrorism Trial By City Pulse News August 23, 2026 Category: Law & Judiciary A major legal controversy continues to surround Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja over his conduct of the high-profile terrorism trial of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu. At the centre of the dispute is a fundamental constitutional question: whether a Nigerian court can convict a person using a law that has already been repealed. During the trial, Kanu and his defence team repeatedly asked the court a direct question that has now become the focus of intense public debate: “Show me the written law currently in force that authorises this conviction.” They argued that Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution makes it clear that no one can be found guilty of a criminal offence unless that offence is defined and the punishment prescribed in a written law that is still valid at the time of the tria...