Okwu-Kanu Family Demands Immediate Hearing, Says Federal Government Has Failed to Respond to Key Proceedings
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has written separately to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President of the Court of Appeal, requesting the immediate listing and hearing of his two pending cases, according to a statement issued by the Okwu-Kanu Family on Tuesday.
The family said Kanu’s request was prompted by what it described as prolonged delays in proceedings concerning his continued detention, conviction and life sentence, while alleging that the Federal Government has shown no willingness to join issues in either case.
The statement, signed by Prince Emmanuel Kanu on behalf of the Okwu-Kanu Family, argued that the judiciary had demonstrated significantly greater urgency in 2022 when the Federal Government sought to prevent Kanu from regaining his freedom.
Family Cites 14-Day Timeline in 2022
According to the family, the Court of Appeal on October 13, 2022, delivered its final judgment discharging Kanu and quashing the criminal counts against him.
The family described the decision as an “acquittal-equivalent discharge” and said the Federal Government subsequently refused to release him.
It further claimed that by October 28, 2022, barely 14 days after the judgment, the Federal Government had filed, listed and argued an application and obtained a civil stay of execution from a differently constituted panel of the Court of Appeal.
The Okwu-Kanu Family argued that the development was legally problematic because, in its view, the criminal appeal had already been finally determined and the Court of Appeal had become functus officio in the matter.
The family said the civil stay prevented Kanu from benefiting from the liberty granted by the earlier Court of Appeal decision.
“A civil stay is not a criminal charge. A civil stay is not a remand warrant. A civil stay does not revive quashed criminal counts,” the statement said.
It further argued that civil procedural rules should not be used as a criminal mechanism to keep a person in detention following an acquittal-equivalent discharge.
The family described Kanu as, to its knowledge, the first and only person in Nigeria to have been subjected to such a procedure.
‘Fourteen Days Then, Months Now’
The Okwu-Kanu Family contrasted the 14-day period it said was required to obtain the stay of execution in 2022 with the length of time Kanu’s current legal challenges have remained pending.
The family said Kanu commenced proceedings before the Supreme Court on November 7, 2025, challenging the legality of the Supreme Court’s December 15, 2023 remittal judgment.
It said the Federal Republic of Nigeria was served with the proceedings but, according to records available to the family, had not filed a substantive response more than nine months later.
The family also claimed that the Supreme Court matter had yet to be listed for hearing.
A separate appeal is pending before the Court of Appeal against Kanu’s conviction and life sentence of November 20, 2025.
According to the statement, Kanu’s Appellant’s Brief was filed on June 5, 2026, and served on the Federal Government. The family said the prescribed period for the government to file its Respondent’s Brief had expired without the brief being filed.
It added that the appeal had also not been listed for hearing.
Family Demands Immediate Listing
The Okwu-Kanu Family said Kanu was not asking the Chief Justice of Nigeria or the President of the Court of Appeal to determine the cases in his favour.
Rather, it said he was asking for the matters to be assigned to the appropriate judicial panels and heard.
“If the Federal Government believes the Supreme Court remittal was lawful, let it appear and defend it,” the family said.
“If it believes the conviction and life sentence are lawful, let it file its papers and defend them.”
The family argued that silence and delay should not replace judicial determination, particularly in proceedings involving an individual’s liberty.
US Congress, Israeli Knesset and International Bar Association to Be Notified
The family also announced plans to formally notify the United States Congress, the Israeli Knesset and the International Bar Association about what it described as the unacceptable delay in Kanu’s cases.
It said relevant court records and the chronology of events would be presented to the three bodies.
According to the family, it intends to ask why the Nigerian appellate system was able to move within 14 days when the government sought to prevent Kanu’s release, but has taken months to list cases in which Kanu is challenging the legality of his continued detention and life sentence.
The family maintained that the judiciary should apply the same urgency to cases involving liberty as it did when the State sought to restrain Kanu’s freedom.
Family’s Three-Point Demand
The Okwu-Kanu Family called on the Supreme Court to immediately list and hear Kanu’s pending proceeding challenging the December 15, 2023 remittal judgment.
It also called on the Court of Appeal to list and hear Kanu’s appeal against his conviction and life sentence without further delay.
Additionally, the family urged the Federal Government to appear before the courts and defend the judicial decisions on which Kanu’s continued detention depends.
“We ask for no favour. We ask for no predetermined judgment,” the family said.
“We ask only that liberty receive at least the same judicial urgency previously given to its restraint.”
The statement concluded with the family repeating its central demand: “List the cases. Hear them. Decide them.”
The statement was issued on August 18, 2026, and signed by Prince Emmanuel Kanu on behalf of the Okwu-Kanu Family.
