Judiciary through the cases in 2010
By Innocent Anaba and Ikechukwu Nnochiri
When year 2010 was heralded exactly 354 days ago, there were many predictions on what to expect from the judiciary. Leaving
up its billing, 2010 did witness a lot of activities, as our courts hosted many issues brought to it for adjudication, which they dealt with, whether satisfactory depended on what side of the issue one was.
The fast fading year 2010 was no doubt embellished with intrigues that played out in the various courtrooms across the country. Many other legal issues were also raised outside the court rooms.
The history of Nigeria in 2010 cannot be completed without a special highlight on some key cases that took place in various courts across the country as well as some decisions that were taken by the judiciary.
Adoke
The success of the impending 2011 general elections was on December 3, threatened when a Federal High Court, Abuja restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from awarding contract for the importation of the Direct Data Capturing Machines, or any other equipment ancillary to, or associated with the process and application of the said machines for the registration of eligible voters for the 2011 general elections or any other elections whatsoever, pending the hearing and determination of a suit before it by an indigenous company, Bedding Holdings Limited.
The company had dragged INEC, its chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, and three companies, Haier Electrical Appliances Corporation Ltd, Zinox Technologies Ltd and Avante International Technology, before the court, insisting that it was the only company with the patent right to produce Electronic Collapsible Transparent Ballox Boxes, ECTBB, as well as the patentee in respect of Proof of Address System/Scheme, PASS, used for the collation and collection of the names, age, sex, address, finger print, geographical description and location of various places in the country, including the bio-data of every person resident in Nigeria.
On December 13, The Attorney General and INEC in a bid to salvage the planned elections went before the court to contest the propriety of the ex-parte application, which led to the order, even as they pleaded with the trial judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta to vacate the order in the interest of the general public.
The court on December 17, set aside the injunction, and adjourned till January 27 to commence hearing in the substantive suit challenging the contract awarded.
An Abuja High Court, Maitama, on December 1, declined to compel the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to enforce its controversial zoning arrangement, just as it equally struck-out a suit seeking to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from vying for presidency on the party’s umbrella come 2011.
A presidential aspirant of the party, Alhaji Sani Dutsima had dragged both the party and its national chairman, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, before the high court, contending that he championed the bastardisation of the PDP constitution in order to pave way for Jonathan to contest the presidential election on the platform of the party.
Delivering judgment in the matter, Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Lawal Gunmi, held that although Article 7.2 (c) of the PDP constitution, 2009, as amended, recognised the principle of zoning and rotation of party and elective offices, but that “the power to nominate and sponsor candidates to an election is vested in a political party and the exercise of this right is the domestic affair of the party.”
While refusing to order the PDP to enforce its contested zoning principle, the court, however, maintained that the onus was on the party to respect the provisions of the said Article 7.2(c), stressing that it was subsisting and binding on the party, its organs and members, despite the fact that it remained a political question that is non justiceable in the court of law.
Following the refusal of the court to enforce PDP zoning arrangement, three associates of the former Vice President; Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, Mr Dubem Onyia and Alhaji Lawal Kaita, filed a fresh suit, seeking to restrain the INEC from accepting President Jonathan as a candidate of PDP for the 2011 presidential elections.
The plaintiffs specifically asked the court to restrain PDP and its National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, from presenting Jonathan as the party’s candidate, contending that doing so will breach the right of the Northern region of the country to fly the flag of the ruling party as stipulated under the zoning formula.
Barely few hours after the court fixed January 4, 2011, to commence hearing in the suit, two chieftains of the PDP, and two-time gubernatorial aspirants in Adamawa and Taraba States respectively, Mr. Bala Takaya and Senator Abdullahi Kirim, asked the court to issue an order stopping former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from contesting the impending presidential primary of the party.
They asked the court to invoke its original jurisdiction and stop Atiku, contending that both the PDP constitution and the 1999 constitution, prohibited people with questionable characters from vying for any elective office in the country. They alleged that the former Vice President has strings of dirty antecedents, which they insisted revolved around corruption. The court is yet to fix a date to commence hearing on the matter.
A five-man panel of the Supreme Court on December 17 nullified the local government area election conducted in Osun State in 2008, just as it sent all the 30 local council area chairmen in the state packing.
The apex court equally faulted the Osun State Electoral Commission, OSSIEC, over its non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2006 in conducting the said election.
The apex court had earlier, on December 13, re-instated the sacked speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Mr. Martin Okonta, stressing that he was not granted fair hearing by the appellate court that hitherto okayed his outer from office.
It was equally within the year under review that the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, LPPC, banned former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoaka, from appending the SAN title after his name till 2012.
LLPC maintained that the decision to suspend the erstwhile AGF for two years was reached after due consideration of a report of a sub-committee earlier set-up to review the petition against him, stressing that he deserved to be stripped of the title in view of the judgment delivered by a Federal High Court, Calabar on June 1, 2010, which it said not only categorically branded him unfit to hold the office of the AGF or any public office in Nigeria but equally declared him persona non-grata for offences relating to corruption.
The year also witnessed plethora of criminal cases ranging from acts of terrorism to fraud by public office holders.
Justice Olukayode Adeniyi on August 30, ordered the arrest of the former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ogbonaya Onovo, for allegedly refusing to comply with a court summon over an unlawful detention of two police corporals, Onyebuchi Eze and Kenneth Chikwe.
The Abuja High Court had, earlier ordered the police boss to personally appear before it, to show cause why he should not be committed to prison for allegedly violating four separate court injunctions, allegedly served on him on August 9, 12, 18 and 20, 2010, with regard to the continued detention of the two accused persons.
The two policemen, alongside one Mr. Austine Duru, were on October 7, 2009, arrested by operatives of the State Security Services, SSS, at Owerri, the Imo State capital, for allegedly collaborating with suspected kidnappers in Anambra State and were subsequently transferred to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
A Federal High Court, Abuja on December 21, refused to release Charles Okah the younger brother to the embattled former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, Henry Okah, on bail, even as he equally ordered the State Security Service, SSS, to within 72 hours, transfer him alongside three other accused person to Kuje prison.
Others remanded in prison custody were Obi Nwabueze, Edmund Ebiware, and Tiemkemfa Osvwo, a.k.a General Gbokos.
They are facing trial following alleged acts of terrorism and other treasonable offences they committed against the Federal Republic of Nigeria at different times. Trial Justice Kolawole ordered their remand shortly after he dismissed three separate bail applications by the 1st, 3rd and 4th accused person in the matter, just as he fixed January 11, 2011, to hear the bail application of Obi Nwabueze.
Likewise, an Iranian, Azim Aghajani, who allegedly conspired with three Nigerians, Ali Jega, Aliyu Wamako and Muhammad Umar, to import 13 deadly containers into Nigeria on October 25, 2010, was on December 23, granted bail by an Abuja High court.
The Iranian has been under the custody of the State Security Service, SSS, since November 25, when he was arraigned before an Abuja Chief Magistrate Court, alongside his alleged co-conspirators.
On June 22, 2010, the former Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Alhaji Bello Lafiaji, and his Personal Assistant, Usman Amali, were sentenced to a total of 23 years imprisonment over bribery, corruption and abuse of office.
The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC had arraigned Mr Bello Lafiaji, and his Personal Assistant, Usman Amali in 2008 on a seven count charge of using their office to collect bribe to enrich themselves.
Lafiaji was specifically found guilty of using his office to illegally collect 164,300 Euro from one Ikenna Onochie in order to release him from the NDLEA custody.
On October 8, 2010, Cecelia Ibru former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank International, was convicted and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, by a Federal High Court, Lagos.
Trial judge in the matter, Justice Daniel Abutu, in slamming the sentence shortly after the former bank chief pleaded guilty to the amended charge by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, also ordered that the sentence should run concurrently.
The judge also mandated that Ibru should forfeit N191billion worth of asset to the Federal Government through the office of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCN.
On December 21, a Lagos High Court, freed Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha, former CSO, to late head of state, General Sani Abacha, who was standing trial alongside CSP Rabo Lawal, Lt. Col Jubrin Bala Yakubu, rtd, former Zamfara State Military Administrator and former Lagos police boss, James Danbaba over alleged attempted murder of publisher of the Guardian Newspapers, Mr Alex Ibru in 1999.
Trial Judge, Justice Mufutau Olokooba upheld a no-case submission by the defence team, noting that the evidence on all the counts preferred against the accused persons were worthless, as there was no evidence of conspiracy as alleged on the first count.
In April, the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, upheld a Rivers State High Court order, which ordered Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, SPDC, to forfeit its land in Mgbuesilaru Rumuokoroshe, Ikwerre area of Port Harcourt, following the suit by Rumucheta-Mgbuesilves family of Okporo Rumukoroshe in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
On September 6, 2010, a Federal High Court, Lagos, nullified the August 26, 2010 elections into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF.
The court later insisted on hearing a contempt proceeding brought against officials of NFF board. The alleged contemnor did appear before the court, but the matter was struck out following the withdrawal of the suit by Registered Trustees of National Association of Nigerian Footballers, NANF, which brought the suit.
On the tenure of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, a Federal High Court, Abuja, this year, held that despite the fact that he took oath of office on October 25, 2007, his tenure would expire on April 28, 2011.
Some judges were also elevated to the higher bench.
At the election tribunals, Mr Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, was declared winner of the Ekiti State ru-run election, Mr Rauf Aregbesola also of ACN was declared winner of the Osun State 2007 election, while Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan of the PDP was removed from office as Governor of Delta State, all by the Courts of Appeal, which sat on appeal over the various states governorship election tribunal decisions.
The judgements had been hailed and criticised by the parties involved. For example, a lot of Nigerians cannot understand the rationale for removing a Governor from office, when his tenure is almost exhausted, more so, as he will not be made to refund money earned for being in office illegally.
Perhaps, amending the constitution to address the concerns raised with regards to election disputes is one sure way of permanently addressing these issues.
As we step into 2011 in two days time, it is hoped, that whatever noticeable shortfalls recorded by the judiciary, would be corrected, in view of its important role to the society.
