CHIEF Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, usually a very sober man, had harsh words for lawyers when he ruled in what should hopefully be the last of the series of court cases, Chief Andy Uba unleashed over the governorship of Anambra State since 2007.
“In this case, judgement was delivered and you allowed them file a case. It was struck out; they came back and filed the same case. Where are we going in this country?
We can only set aside our judgement in case there is corruption or collision. They had earlier brought an application asking us to set aside our judgement. They knew that they were wrong and they withdrew the matter. The former lawyer knew that he was wrong and he withdrew,” Justice Kutigi said.
Uba’s 17-day-old tenure of Anambra State ended when the Supreme Court reinstated Peter Obi on 14 June 2007. Obi had lost two earlier judgements at the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal, both in Enugu. Obi approached the Federal High Court to put legal approval on his tenure which did not start until 17 March 2006, following a protracted legal battle at the electoral tribunal.
Both courts on the tenure case held that Obi’s tenure would end on 29 May 2007. Obi went to the Supreme Court. On 14 June 2007, the Supreme Court reinstated Peter Obi as governor.
Justice Katsina-Alu drew from Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution to conclude that Obi’s tenure would expire on 17 March 2010, four years from the day he was sworn in as governor.
“There is no doubt that Governor Obi took his oath of office on 17 March 2006 and that his tenure of office shall expire on 17 March 2010. INEC admitted that it was aware of the pendency of the suit and still went ahead to conduct an election into an office that is not vacant.
The office of Governor of Anambra State was not vacant as at the time of the elections; Andy Uba should immediately vacate the office for Peter Obi to complete his term of office,” Justice Katsina-Alu stated.
Uba has been to the two courts in Enugu to reclaim the governorship, he failed. He finally asked the Supreme Court to upturn its own judgement on the matter. Justice Kutigi had tough words for lawyers.
“What kind of country is this where Senior Advocates of Nigeria are used to mess up the judiciary? They went and bought you (J. B. Dawodu, SAN, Uba’s lawyer) to handle this kind of practice.
This is wrong. The appellant has been shuttling from one court to another on a matter that the Supreme Court had already delivered judgement. If the Supreme Court makes a mistake, there are procedures of correcting the mistakes, not this way, and we will not allow it,” the Chief Justice of Nigeria said.
Let us hope this is the last of this case that has exhausted itself on all fronts.
justice alfa bolgare started it justices idris kutigi is consolidating it,thank god we still have some men with dignity.keep it up men of intergrity
my friend ebo socrates no one is perfect and someone must put things right,yiu as a person telling kutigi a man that i believe is old enough to be your father to shut up is regretable,to likening mr.peter obi with with obasanjo,maurice iwu and andy uba,goes to show that you support ngige but remember he once said after justice nabaruma decleared peter obi winner of 2003 election that the whole election that brought them into power was fraud and should be treated as his as they all committied the same offence,crime in unizm,let us be fair and truthful in matters and issues by being sincere at all times.don’t likening evil with good please.
Everything has a beginnig and an end. God has a way to do things through his people .Justice Kutigi and the Superem Court has done His work.
when i read the judgement on Uba’ s case and how the chief judge take on the layers (SAN’s) in this country my hope was rekindled that at least one day nigeria will be governored by men of good will.Justice Kutigi expressed hope for this nation even though he may not be absolved completely from the problems of the nation. Lets have more people like him to will such courage
When I read news like this, my hope for my beloved Nigeria increases a thousand fold. I have always opined that one of the biggest problems we have as a nation or citizens of this great nation Nigeria, is integrity. More often that not our greed as individuals clouds our judgement on matters that border on honesty, transparency and accountability. For this, I say to you Mr Justice Kutigi, “more power to your elbow!”. One last, how do people like the SAN in question (J. B. Dawodu, SAN) become SANs, Hmnn? Food For Thought!
people like this man dey and we de give andoakaa AGF.
if yaradua sabi something, make e give kutugi chairman, INEC.
IBO don too reign for INEC. maybe na that thing be the wahala sef.
Even when you disagree with the Supreme Court justices, it is not prudent to insult them. The Kutigi court did not impose Yar’Adua as the president of Nigeria on Nigerians. If you read the Supreme Court’s judgment in the case brought before the justices by Buhari et al, you will find that the justices admitted that the elections were flawed; but, the appellants failed to produce one witness to testfiy that the flawed election(s) materially and socially harm him/her. The Supreme Court justices deal with jurisprudence – a science that enable the judge to objectively reason out matters before him/her prior to rending a judgment. Buhari’s case hinged on a perceived corrupt system that foisted President Yar’Adua on Nigerians; but Buhari failed to place President Yar’Adua in the center of the corruption that elected him. He was hand-picked for the job. Give the man a chance – he is the first Nigerian president with a college degree (you must bear in mind that Zik of Africa was a ceremonial president; Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister, governed).
Andy Uba, as an educated man should know that when the highest court in the renders a decision in a certain matter, it would be foolhardiness t go back and request the same justices to reconsider their decision. If we had a higher body to review judgment from the courts before those judgment become effective, Uba’s perennial litigation of the same matter would have made sense. In his case, the court did not remand, but made a pronouncement; namely, that Obi’s tenure as governor expire in 2010. Justice Kutigi is right that the elections should not have been held in Anambra because of pending litigation. Finally, please when you write to address issues, be prudent, do not insult your public officials, even if you know that you could do better in thier shoes.
justice kutigi should shut up. he is part of the Nigerian mess.
where was he when the 2007 were conducted?
before our wide awakened eyes, he rule that yaruda was brought in through the freest and fairest election in the world. he is a great disappointment. kutigi, obasanjo, maurice iwu, that maverick, ribadu, andy uba and peter obi belong in the same chapter of the history of the nigerian mess
the same people dishing out harsh words for Daudu must show the same level of courage when dealing with other SANs that has been using the title not only to but to terrorist their opponents. What has been kutigi’s response/admonition for someone like Falana and Akeredolu for their excesses in matters of decorum and rascalities? Akeredolu has called a judge a thief openly in court during akala’s cases and has gone ahead to use his position to express opinion worse than a typical politician. Prof. Nwabueze has openly accused Supreme courts of being bought over by PDP/defenders in Buhari’s case. What was the response of kutigi on the matter? What has been his response to the terror of the oppositions actively encouraged by the likes of akeredolu, Ngige(SAN) , falana, Akintola,and the prof. to openly challenged and accused the judges whenever electoral cases did not go in their favour. To me this is just a case of victimising daudu, when some people are daily bringing the profession down without any form of reprimand from the supreme cout/kutigi.