Human rights lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor has denied claims that he continued to act as personal counsel to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, insisting that he voluntarily withdrew from Kanu’s legal team in December 2023.
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Ejiofor made the clarification in a statement issued on Tuesday, following reports that Kanu had formally terminated his legal representation through a letter dated July 22, 2026.
According to him, his disengagement from Kanu’s personal legal representation was a professional decision taken in December 2023, long before Kanu’s eventual conviction and sentence to life imprisonment.
“For the avoidance of doubt, and for the sake of clarity, I wish to state unequivocally that I personally disengaged myself from the legal representation of Nnamdi Kanu in any capacity since December 2023, long before his eventual conviction and the subsequent sentence to life imprisonment,” Ejiofor stated.
The lawyer said he has not acted for Kanu “in any capacity whatsoever” since his withdrawal, describing any suggestion to the contrary as false and misleading.
He, however, drew a distinction between his former role as Kanu’s personal counsel and his law firm’s separate retainership with IPOB as an organisation.
Ejiofor said his firm remained in effective and continuous retainership as solicitors to IPOB and had continued to represent the group in several criminal proceedings across the country.
“In the exercise of our professional rights and responsibilities as legal practitioners, we have remained in effective and continuous retainership as solicitors to the Indigenous People of Biafra,” he said.
He claimed that between December 2023 and 2025, his firm secured the discharge and acquittal of more than 200 alleged IPOB members in cases before the Federal High Court in Abuja and the High Courts of Ebonyi and Abia states.
According to him, the court records relating to those cases are public and verifiable.
Ejiofor also rejected the claim that Kanu independently appointed him as IPOB’s lawyer, saying Kanu’s involvement was limited to engaging him as his personal counsel before the professional relationship ended.
“Nnamdi Kanu never independently appointed us as attorneys to the IPOB. His limited involvement in our appointment was solely in his capacity as his personal lawyer, from which we had, since December 2023, formally disengaged our services,” he stated.
He maintained that he has not represented Kanu as private counsel, family lawyer or in any other capacity since December 2023, describing contrary claims as “a deliberate distortion of the facts” meant to advance ulterior motives.
Ejiofor further said IPOB had reaffirmed his law firm’s position as the organisation’s legal representatives, adding that the mandate could not be altered by persons who previously held leadership positions within the group.
He also cautioned journalists and legal practitioners against relying on communications allegedly issued by inmates without verifying whether such communications complied with the provisions of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act.
According to him, any correspondence from a convicted prisoner or inmate must be authenticated by the officer in charge of the correctional facility before it can be regarded as genuine.
He warned the media against circulating what he described as unauthorised communications purportedly issued by inmates without first verifying the legal procedure governing such correspondence.
“Let the facts, therefore, speak for themselves. Let the records speak for themselves. And let those who are genuinely interested in the truth consult the records rather than manufacture narratives for purposes best known to them,” Ejiofor said.
Ejiofor’s statement came after reports that Kanu had formally withdrawn his services as personal counsel and as legal representative of IPOB, accusing him of continuing to act without authority despite an earlier verbal dismissal.
In the letter dated July 22, 2026, addressed to Ejiofor at his Abuja office, Kanu said any authority previously granted to the lawyer to represent him, his family or IPOB had been withdrawn with immediate effect.
The letter was reportedly signed by Kanu from the Sokoto Correctional Centre, where he is serving a life sentence.
“Your engagement as my personal legal representative was previously terminated by me through direct verbal communication, upon which you ceased acting in that capacity. This letter serves, in part, as a formal written confirmation of that earlier termination,” Kanu wrote.
Kanu alleged that despite the earlier dismissal, Ejiofor continued to hold himself out as legal counsel for IPOB, prompting him to issue what he described as a final written withdrawal of all authority previously granted to the lawyer.
“Accordingly, and for the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, I hereby formally withdraw and terminate any authority previously granted to you to act for or represent IPOB in any capacity,” Kanu stated.
“From the date of this letter, you have no authority, implied, express, or ostensible, to act, speak, or make representations on my behalf, on behalf of my family, or on behalf of IPOB.”
Kanu, citing the IPOB Code of Conduct, argued that only the group’s leader had the exclusive authority to appoint or remove principal officers or authorise legal representation unless such powers were expressly delegated.
He maintained that any authority allegedly granted to Ejiofor by other individuals or bodies was invalid and would not be recognised by IPOB.
Kanu also directed Ejiofor to immediately stop issuing press statements, granting interviews, publishing social media posts or presenting himself as his lawyer or IPOB’s legal representative.
He further instructed the lawyer to take necessary steps to withdraw from any pending court cases where he remained listed as counsel.
Kanu also reminded Ejiofor that the duty of confidentiality survives the termination of a lawyer-client relationship and warned against the disclosure or use of confidential information allegedly obtained during the course of the representation.
He alleged that recent developments had raised “serious concerns” about possible misuse of privileged information, although no specific incident was identified in the letter.
In what he described as a final warning, Kanu threatened to petition the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee and pursue other legal remedies, including injunctions and claims for damages, if Ejiofor continued to present himself as his lawyer or disclosed confidential information.
He also directed Ejiofor to preserve all files relating to his legal representation of both Kanu and IPOB in anticipation of possible legal proceedings.
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