By Abdulrasheed Ibrahim
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If you are faced with criminal charge before a court and you are fortunate to have the trio of Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN and Paul Erokoro, SAN as your defence team, you can confidently step into the dock to face the legal battle. With the judgement of the Federal High Court delivered on the 20th November 2025, Nnamdi Kanu has denied many of us the privilege of listening to the robust defence and arguments the defence team would have put forward on his behalf coupled with the fact that you equally had Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN on the other side leading the prosecution. How I wish Nnamdi Kanu had allowed us to witness the great legal battle between the prosecution and the defence teams. Nnamdi Kanu spoilt the show by coming up with his theory of defending himself despite the appeal by the trial judge to him to reconsider his position. When the news broke out earlier that Kanu had disengaged his formidable defence team and elected to defend himself , I had no doubt in mind that he was embarking on a suicide mission.
There are cases in our law reports where some lawyers and non-lawyers had decided to handle their cases by themselves. It may not be a big deal when a lawyer decides to defend himself in a case in which he is personal involved, although, Lord Denning had warned against that. But when a person that is not a lawyer decides to do that in court, that may generate great interest as many people will like to see a person trying to embark on a journey of no return. There was a case of a Medical Doctor who believed himself to very learned and so intelligent that he decided to handle his case himself from the trial court to the Supreme Court where he was eventually told by OGUNDARE ,JSC of blessed memory in the case of IWEKA Vs. SCOA (2000) 15 WRN Pg. 128 Lines 5-10 that :
“I must pause here to make a short observation. It may be that the plaintiff is an intelligent and able medical practitioner. One thing is clear to me; he is not wise in the nuances of the legal profession. It is not enough to read up cases in the law reports and to cram up rules and legal principles read in the books, the correct application of these cases, rules and principles to a given situation is what makes the difference between the legal practitioner and the able medical practitioner. I doubt it much if the plaintiff is doing justice to his cause by conducting these proceedings himself given the intricate of the questions he has himself raised. His notice and grounds of appeal and other papers that have since been filed by him and his prolix and for most part irrelevant, arguments in his “brief” of arguments both in this court and in the court below bear testimony to this observation.”
That was in a civil case. Will it be a wise decision for a defendant who is not a lawyer opting to defend himself in a criminal case that bother on the issue of life and death? Although Nnamid Kanu is not a lawyer , but by his conducts in court, he always wants to prove to the world that he is more learned in law than the judges and the lawyers that are involved in his cases. When a client or defendant told his lawyer in court that “you keep quite while am talking” or telling the judge that “you do not know the law”, what do we call this kind of attitude? The judgment was delivered on 20th November 2025 in case that started at the Federal High Court in 2015. Ten years was spent at the trial court. Since this is a case that may not end at the trial court except it is resolved politically, this may be another long walk to the Court of Appeal and thereafter to the Supreme Court that will have the final saying just like the other case involving Nnamdi Kanu and the Federal Government which had earlier travelled the same way which the trial judge cited extensively in his judgment. To read through the 144 page judgment requires patience, endurance and the flair for reading. The judgment is not meant for those who do not like reading long essay because to appreciate the issues involved you must create time to read the entire judgment. At a stage ,I was wondering why the Defendant, Nnamdi Kanu would insist on defending himself in such a serious case ,even despite the appeal made to by the trial judge to have a rethink and allowed law experts to come in for him but the defendant remained adamant.
After the withdrawal by the defence team led by Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN) ,the trial judge said in his judgment that the : “Defendant confirmed this development and informed the court that he wished to represent himself in the trial”. The trial judge went further on the same page 45 of the judgment that:
“Upon exercising his right to defend himself , the Defendant came on the next adjourned date and his excuse was that he was not given his case file by his departing counsel .This is was no doubt another case of delay on his part. The following day, the Defendant appeared for himself and began challenging the jurisdiction of the court arguing that there was no charge against him and that the medical report certifying him fit was allegedly doctored. The court patiently explained to him that some of the issues he was raising had been treated in the no case submission and some other issues could be raised during final address. The court then advised him to engaged counsel who are experts in criminal litigation due to the seriousness of the charge against him. The Court also offered to secure the services of counsel from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria or a private legal practitioner willing to take the matter pro bono which were all rejected by the Defendant. The Court continued to appeal to him and even went as far as begging him in the name of God to please engage Counsel and open his defence all of which fell on deaf ears”
This has shown one of the differences between a lawyer learned in law that opts to defend himself and a non-lawyer not learned in law but elects to defend himself just like Nnamdi Kanu in this case. Ordinarily a lawyer defending himself that has earlier raised a point which has been ruled upon by the court will have no business raising the issue again for it to be ruled upon again as that court has become functus officio and lacks the power to deal with that issue again. A defendant defending himself and who does not know the law will always think anything can go in our courts which is not so. There was a story of a defendant who was once charged for a criminal offence before a High Court and insisted on defending himself and just like being given enough rope to hang himself, he began to bring and file applications under the High Court Civil Procedure Rules to the amazement of every lawyer in court. In this part of the world people are unnecessarily abusing the constitutional right to defend themselves.
There are people including lawyers that am very sure are yet to read the full judgment of the trial judge but have unfortunately began to give negative remarks on the judgment which I consider to be very unfair to the trial judge. Some of our colleagues have been writing the likes of seminar papers as if they are sitting on appeal on that judgment rather than waiting for what may eventually be the verdicts of the appellate court if the case finally goes on appeal. Most of the issues they are wrongly canvassing have been dealt with by the trial judge in his judgment and this can only be set aside by the appellate court superior to that trial court. Without prejudice to the right possesses by Nnamdi Kanu to appeal the judgment in question, has he, if one may ask , done justice to himself in the cause of the proceedings before the trial court when he had the opportunity of being defended by law experts who are brilliant Senior Advocates of Nigeria whose services he discountenanced with ? Is he ready and still going to argue his appeal himself at the Court of Appeal through to the Supreme Court particularly in a case where he had rested his case on that of the prosecution?
Different narratives have been going round which are more of blackmailing than facing the reality. The wrong narratives are not confined to Nigeria alone as there are also foreign interests trying to mislead people. How does one explain or interpret this online news’ caption that says: “US Lawmaker James Cites Nnamdi Kanu’s Life Sentence As Evidence of Religious Persecution in Nigeria During Fiery Congressional Hearing”? Has that US lawmaker read the judgment in question to justify such position? It is only those that are wicked and very unreasonable that will be happy about what has been going on in this country for years as far as security situation is concerned. I had a cold war with some colleagues when I reacted to that misleading caption as follow:
“I personally have written extensively on how terrorism can be tackled through intelligence and technology but when you have leaders that behave like deaf and dumb, the problem will continue to persist. My worry on the position of some US lawmakers and Trump is that they continue to bring religious flavor into their hypocrisy as if it is only one particular group that has been victim of terrorists’ madness in this country. If they really meant well , their concern should be about how to assist the country with technology and intelligence to nip the madness of the terrorists in the bud. At least US was said to have once entered into this country to liberate their citizens from the terrorists.”
One continues to be disturbed the rate at which terrorists are making lives difficult for people in different parts of this country and the government is yet unable to nip all these irrational killing in the bud. Since the likes of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State and Dr. Dauda Lawal, Governor of Zamfara State have disclosed that the terrorists’ hideouts are known, why the government’s refusal to move against them? Is the government comfortable with the killings being unleashed on the people irrespective of the ethnic and religious affiliation? Is it not worrisome and disheartened that school children and their teachers have become the main target of the terrorists? The terrorists have been over pampered in this country with ransom and negotiations. They have now constituted themselves as the kings of the jungles. There was an unfortunate story of a retired military officer that was kidnapped by bandits and his colleagues had to open a whatsapp group to mobilize ransom for his release. If this could happen to a military officer, what will be the fate of an ordinary Nigerian?
The burden of getting rid of terrorism in this country squarely lies on the desk of the President who must be bold, courageous and very daring in the interest and security of the Nigerian people who elected him. There must not be any sacred cow. Let those sponsoring terrorism be exposed and be made to face the law. If Nnamdi Kanu can be jailed for terrorism, let those others sponsoring terrorists be named and faced the law. The President must heed the advice of Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN that :
“The problems have been there, but we should stop pretending. There are people who claim to be citizens but do not love this country. You cannot sabotage your country and get away with it .Why are we not naming names? Why are we describing a spade as an agricultural instrument when we know who is desecrating the house? People talk in this country as if they are above the law.”
The rhetoric has been on for years that the sponsors of terrorists are known but why then the fear or refusal to name and arrest them. Under the military setting if certain people no matter how high they are and are known for sponsoring a failed coup, they are immediately arrested and put on trial. Why the fear all these years to expose the sponsors of the terrorists? Nobody should be allowed to take this country for granted. Since Justice Omotosho has declared that Nnamdi Kanu cannot arrogate any power to himself, clear warning must also be sent to the sponsors of the terrorists. The learned jurist was very instructive on page 102 of his judgment:
“The Defendant is not the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and lacks any power to so declare a sit-at-home in any part of the country. The Defendant arrogated to himself powers he lacks and with the threat of violence ordered the residents of the South Eastern states to stay at home or face the consequences of their disobedience .This an unconstitutional act which is subversive and amounts to nothing more than a terrorist act. It is a notorious fact that the people of the South East have been subjected to sit-at –home threats on Mondays for years”.
Let those condemning the trial judge for his judgment debunk this obvious fact. It is those living in another planet that will accuse the jurist of crying more than the people of the South East. I dare say Nnamdi Kanu should consider himself lucky for being sentenced to life imprisonment. One just hopes that if he eventually files his appeal against that judgment, the prosecution will not be forced to file a counter-appeal that he deserves more than what he got before the trial judge. It was in a situation similar to this in the case of ODULAMI Vs. NIGERIAN NAVY (2018) AFLR (Pt. 3) Pg. 174, Paras 20-35, that made AKAAHS , JSC to wonder that:
“I am surprised that the respondent did not file a cross-appeal against the verdict of the Court-Martial in not finding the appellant guilty of murder but manslaughter and sentencing him to life imprisonment .The facts as revealed by the prosecution is a case of pre-mediated murder borne out of pride, arrogance and lack of respect for human life. The appellant valued his car more than the life of the deceased. He therefore did not realize the heinous crime he had committed and instead of thanking his God from saving him from the hangman’s noose, has had the temerity to ask for an order of this court to set aside the order dismissing him from the Nigeria Navy and directing his re-instatement to his rank without loss of seniority, promotion and other privileges to which he is entitled. The only privilege he is entitled to , is to be kept away for the rest of his life in prison in the hope that he will show remorse for what he did to unjustly take away a precious life and beg God for forgiveness.”
Unlike in the above case where it was not only a single soul that fell victim of the arrogant Navy officer, in that of Nnamdi Kanu numerous souls fell victims particularly in the South East, of the Defendant’s “ threat of violence ordered the residents of the South Eastern states to stay at home or face the consequences of their disobedience” to borrow from the words of the trial judge who must be commended for his wonderful comportment in the face of insults and arrogance hauled and displayed by the Defendant throughout the proceedings. The Defendant was appealed to , to allowed to be defended by great lawyers who are experts in the law of criminal litigation but the Defendant insisted that he is more learned in law to defend himself. But where has that his knowledge of law taken him to? Unlike the Achebe proverbial fly that had no one to advise it and to follow the corpse to the grave, but Nnamdi Kanu got advice but deliberately decided to follow his own wish. Wishing him the best in his planned appeal to the appellate court!
NOTE: Anyone is at liberty to disagree with my above submissions as I will surely appreciate a balanced, fair and objective rebuttal, 08055476823, 08164683735, abdurasheedibrahim362@gmail.com
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