Njoku, who serves as a consultant to the Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium, said in a statement issued in Abuja that the apex court’s December 15, 2023 judgment was “a constitutional error” and a “violation of the doctrine of finality of appellate discharge.”
He argued that once the Court of Appeal discharged Kanu on October 13, 2022, the case was permanently closed under Section 36(9) of the Nigerian Constitution, which protects citizens from double jeopardy.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to remit a charge already extinguished by the Court of Appeal’s lawful discharge constitutes a blatant constitutional perversity,” Njoku said.
According to him, the Constitution remains superior to the Supreme Court, and once a competent appellate court issues a discharge, no other court—including the apex court—can revive the case without new facts or evidence.
Njoku cited several international legal precedents from England, Canada, and Australia to back his argument that appellate acquittals are final and irreversible.
He also accused the five-member Supreme Court panel of “judicial overreach,” claiming that it contradicted established African Charter jurisprudence upheld by a larger seven-member constitutional bench, an act he described as “judicial insubordination.”
Njoku maintained that the remittal judgment is “void ab initio” and an affront to Nigeria’s constitutional supremacy and the global rule of law.
