Nnamdi Kanu’s legal team mastered camera angles but lacked strategy, says ex-counsel

Ifeanyi Ejiofor, former lead counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, hasaccused lawmakers representing the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader ofmishandling his defence and turning the high-profile trial into a “legalcircus”. On Thursday, a federal high court in Abuja sentenced theIPOB leader to life imprisonment. In a statement on Saturday, Ejiofor said he was compelled tospeak after receiving an “avalanche of calls” from supporters expressingconcern over developments surrounding Kanu’s case. He said his team secured “landmark victories” between 2015and 2023, including the 2022 court of appeal judgment, which discharged andacquitted Kanu. He said the legal progress made at the time was derailedafter Kanu allegedly shared sensitive information with “clueless clowns” whopersuaded him to alter the defence structure. According to him, the decision led to the exit of his legalteam, including that of Mike Ozekhome, senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), whoassumed leadership in 2022. He said the new “legal actors reduced an internationallysensitive trial into a parody of legal representation”. “A high-profile, internationally sensitive criminal trial isnot a circus ring,” he said. “But once these bloated, delusional entertainers-in-wigsinserted themselves into the process, everything degenerated into a grotesqueparody of legal representation. “Instead of crafting legal strategy, they crafted Instagramstories. Instead of mastering case law, they mastered camera angles. “At every court session, their priority wasn’t research orpreparation, it was posing, filming, updating, grandstanding, and going viral.Meanwhile, the accused man’s fate hung by a thread.” He said the development contributed to an “avoidableoutcome”, including a trial and conviction that “could have been prevented”. Ejiofor said misinformation shared online by the new teamrepeatedly contradicted courtroom proceedings. He said the contradictions provided openings for theprosecution, and questioned how senior lawyers such as Kanu Agabi and OnyechiIkpeazu were sidelined “at the most critical moment of the trial”. He said the matter was “hijacked by mediocre adventurersintoxicated by social-media relevance”. Ejiofor said the situation requires a reset anchored oncompetence, sobriety and reduced publicity. He said globally respected legal experts can only interveneafter a “comprehensive clean-up” of what he described as “monumental damage”. On Friday, Uchechi Okwu-Kanu, wife of Kanu, criticised herhusband’s legal consultants for failing to brief her on his transfer to Sokotoprison. Aloy Ejimakor, counsel to Kanu, earlier announced that theIPOB leader has been transferred to a correctional centre in Sokoto followinghis conviction.

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