By Barr. Christopher Chidera
THE SIMPLE TRUTH:
The case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not as complicated as the government of Nigeria and Britain would like you to believe.
National Assembly of Nigeria killed the old terrorism law Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2013 (TPAA) under which Nnamdi Kanu was charged and convicted.
The trial judge James Omotosho pretended it was still alive even though he knows its dead.
That is illegal because Nigerian law, s.122 (2)(a) Evidence Act, says a judge like Omotosho, that pretends a dead law is still alive is doing so illegally, he is breaking the law.
NBA, NJC and a few reasonable people know the truth but they are hoping the noisy propaganda surrounding Kanu’s conviction will bury it.
WHAT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DID (IN PLAIN ENGLISH):
In 2022, Nigeria passed a new terrorism law.
At the same time, National Assembly in Abuja scrapped the old terrorism laws from 2011 and 2013.
‘Scrapped” means dead.
Dead laws cannot jail people. This is important to note because the Constitution of Nigeria says so.
NBA knows this, NJC knows, judges know, lawyers know this basic law. Why are they silent?
Dead laws cannot convict anyone.
WHAT THE NEW LAW CLEARLY SAYS:
The new law says three clear things:
The old terrorism laws are repealed. Section 98(1) TPPA repealed it and Omotosho acknowledged it in his judgment.
Repealed means finished. Over. Gone.
Any old cases must move forward under the new law. This means that Kanu should be tried under the current written law which is TPPA.
Not under the repealed TPAA.
Nothing already done before repeal is erased.
But new decisions must follow the new law.
That is simple.
WHAT JUSTICE OMOTOSHO CLAIMED:
Justice Omotosho said he was ensuring a “smooth transition” from the old law (TPAA) to the new law (TPPA).
That sounds reasonable.
But it was a lie.
Because he never transitioned anywhere. He never tried Nnamdi Kanu under the new law TPPA as the law commanded him to.
THE QUESTION THAT DESTROYS OMOTOSHO’S JUDGMENT:
Transition to where?
Answer: Nowhere.
He stayed inside the old, dead 2013 law.
He never moved to the 2022 law.
Not once.
WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE DONE (BUT DID NOT):
If the law truly transitioned:
Charges should have been under the 2022 law.
The trial should have followed the 2022 rules.
The punishment should come from the 2022 law.
None of this happened.
WHAT HE ACTUALLY DID:
He convicted Kanu using the dead 2013 law.
He sentenced Kanu using the dead 2013 law.
He ignored the new law completely.
Then he called that “smooth transition.”
That is nonsense.
WHY THIS IS NOT A SMALL MISTAKE:
This is not confusion.
This is not oversight.
This is deliberate bending of the law to get a conviction.
A judge cannot choose which law to obey.
A judge cannot revive a dead law.
A judge cannot jail a man using a law Parliament has buried.
WHY THIS IS DANGEROUS FOR EVERYONE:
If this judgment is allowed to stand:
Any judge can resurrect any old law, Parliament becomes useless.
The Constitution becomes decoration.
Today it is Kanu. Tomorrow it can be anyone.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL RULE (VERY SIMPLE):
The Constitution says:
You can only be punished under a law that exists.
A dead law does not exist.
Using a dead law is illegal.
Full stop.
FINAL WORD TO THE PUBLIC:
This is not about liking or disliking Kanu. This is about law versus lawlessness.
A court that convicts under a dead law
is not doing justice; It is doing fraud in a robe.
And if Nigerians accept this, then nobody is safe.
The question every right thinking person should ask himself is this: why didn’t Omotosho “smooth transition” to TPPA as he said he would? Therein lies the judicial fraud at the heart of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case.
