The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, currently standing trial, has filed a fresh motion before the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking the dismissal of all charges against him and his immediate release.

In the motion dated October 30, 2025, and titled “Motion on Notice and Written Address in Support,” Kanu argued that there is no valid charge against him under any existing law in Nigeria, insisting that the charges currently before the court are “a nullity ab initio for want of any extant legal foundation.”

Kanu filed the motion under Sections 1(3), 6(6) (b), and 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution, the Evidence Act 2011, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.

The IPOB leader, who opted to defend himself, maintained that the prosecution relied on repealed and non-existent laws, including the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA), which was repealed by the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, and the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, repealed by the TPPA 2022.

According to him, the reliance on such repealed laws violates Section 36(12) of the Constitution, which prohibits trial for an offence not defined under an existing law and urged the court to strike out the charges in their entirety, insisting they do not constitute any offence known to law.

Citing the Supreme Court’s decision in FRN v. Kanu (SC/CR/1361/2022), he argued that lower courts are bound to take judicial notice of repealed laws un- der Section 122 of the Evidence Act 2011, adding that failure to do so renders all proceedings void.