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The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has given the Nigerian government 14 days to act on its detained leader Nnamdi Kanu’s appeal, warning it could mobilise a boycott of the 2027 general elections in the South-East if the government fails to act.
IPOB spokesperson Emma Powerful, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said the ultimatum followed renewed concerns from Kanu’s family over delays in hearing his appeal against his conviction and life sentence.
Powerful said Kanu had sought the immediate listing and hearing of his pending appeal, while accusing the Nigerian Government of frustrating efforts to have the case heard.
He warned that the group would consider mobilising for a boycott of the 2027 elections if the government failed to take action within the 14-day period.
“IPOB is giving the Federal Government 14 days to list and hear Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s appeal. If they refuse, we will consider boycotting the coming elections across Biafraland and beyond. A government that cannot face our Court of Appeal has no right to demand our votes,” he said.
Powerful also accused the government of failing to file its respondent’s brief or take steps to advance the appeal.
“The Federal Government has not filed a respondent’s brief; it has not listed the appeal, and it has not come to court. A country that rushed to convict is now too frightened to defend the conviction,” he said.
He contrasted the government’s handling of the appeal with the speed with which Kanu was prosecuted and convicted.
“The Federal Government was in a hurry to prosecute and convict Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Now that the conviction is before the Court of Appeal, that same urgency has disappeared. No meaningful progress. No urgency to defend the conviction,” he said.
Powerful also questioned the legal basis for Kanu’s conviction and continued detention.
“Nigeria must answer two simple questions: Under which extant written law was Mazi Nnamdi Kanu convicted on November 20, 2025? What specific crime, cognisable under Nigerian law, justifies his continued detention after nearly six years?” he said.
IPOB also criticised the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Court of Appeal’s acquittal and discharge of Kanu. The group argued that the Supreme Court exceeded its constitutional authority by addressing individual counts that the Court of Appeal had already quashed.
Powerful said the government must now defend both Kanu’s conviction and the legal basis for his resumed trial. He also questioned the value of continued participation in a political system that IPOB believes cannot deliver justice.
“At some point, people must ask whether repeatedly participating in a process they believe is structurally incapable of delivering justice is itself the definition of political progress,” he said.
