Judiciary in 2011: A theatre of unexpected and suspense

By Abdulwahab  Abdulah & Ikechukwu Nnochiri
Since inception, the Nigerian judiciary may not have attracted as much public attention and opprobrium to itself than it did this  outgoing year. Indeed, from January till date, it was never a dull moment.

It was only in this year that a sitting CJN, Justice Aloysius Kastina-Alu (rtd) and a sitting President of the Court of Appeal, PCA, Justice Ayo Salami engaged each other  in a manner that dragged the judiciary into an unprecedented controversies, thereby exposing  the  sacred temple of justice  into public ridicule.

Seeds of crisis

There was no doubt that the two legal titans  (Kastina -Alu and Salami) did not hide their aversion for each other, but the matter  got to  its head when on  February 18, 2010,  Katsina-Alu queried Salami over his alleged refusal to disband the panel of justices handling the Sokoto State Gubernatorial Election Appeal, a move that was considered legally absurd by the PCA who saw it as an attempt to usurp his powers, looking at it that it was the Court of Appeal  that had total jurisdiction over governorship disputes at that time.

*A cross section of Judges

In an unanimous decision of the Court delivered on April 11, 2008 and read by Belgore, JCA, the appeal was allowed. The judgment of the Election Tribunal, Sokoto, was set aside and the election and return of Governor Wamakko was nullified.

The Court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to within 90 days, conduct fresh governorship election in Sokoto State, adding that only valid candidates involved in the annulled election should participate in the fresh poll.

The fresh election ordered by the Court of Appeal, Kaduna, was held on May 24, 2008, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Governor Wamakko won again, a situation that warranted the Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, and its candidate, Alhaji Dingyadi, who lost, to proceed again to the Election Tribunal in Sokoto for redress, contending that by virtue of the earlier judgment, Wamakko ought not to have participated in the re-run election as he was not qualified to contest the 2007 election in the first place.

The Governorship Election Tribunal, Sokoto, again dismissed the petition without deciding the issue of the disqualification of Governor Wamakko, hence the petitioners appealed to the Court of Appeal Sokoto Division, which was established after the decision of the Court of Appeal, Kaduna.

However, before the appellate court could enter verdict in the matter, counsel to Wamakko and INEC, Mr. Alfred N. Agu and Mr A.B Mahmood, forwarded two petitions dated February 15, 2010, to the CJN, alleging judgment leakage, an allegation that was relied upon by the CJN to seek an immediate disbandment of the panel.

After the refusal of the PCA to disband the panel, the CJN, ‘arrested’ the court’s judgment and subsequently dismissed Dingyadi’s petition as grossly lacking in merit.

The situation turned messier when the National Judicial Council, NJC, on August 18, 2011 suspended the embattled PCA, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, over alleged “judicial misconduct”, it said eroded public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.

The matter assumed a new dimension when the ousted PCA, Salami, raised an alarm over what he described as surreptitious moves by the former CJN, Justice Katsina-Alu to “push” him to the Supreme Court Bench, saying the offer was a “Greek gift”, handed in bad faith.

Customarily, never in the annals of the nation’s  judiciary has a serving PCA moved to the apex court bench where by hierarchy, he automatically becomes junior to even those he nominated.

As if that was not enough, the PCA, in a bid to quash his controversial promotion, went before a lower court and alleged that the ex-CJN pressurized him to compromise standard in an election petition matter in Sokoto State.

Though Justice Salami eventually withdrew the affidavit he deposed before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, yet, it was not enough to deter the NJC from axing him out of office, even as it recommended his retirement from service. Meanwhile, the case is far from over, as suspense and uncertainty still trails the issue.  The lower court has fixed January 9, 2012 to commence hearing on a suit challenging

Salami’s suspension and the present CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher is a respondent before the lower court. Remarkably, the two judicial  officers that ignited the fire left their respective offices soon after the crisis got to its head.

Whereas the PCA left unceremoniously, the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and the Body of Benchers,   two principal organs of the judiciary, boycotted the valedictory session that was held in honor of the ex-CJN who retired from service on August 28.

NBA /  CJN  Face-Off

The crisis of confidence rocking the judiciary was further heightened when the out gone Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice  Katsina-Alu, called the bluff of the NBA, by swearing-in 30 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, while leading light of the Bar  conspicuously refused to attend the August occasion of swearing-in of new silks.

The occasion, which was equally boycotted by the Body of Benchers and legal luminaries across the federation, marked the last official assignment performed by the CJN who retired upon clocking the 70 years mandatory retirement age for judicial officers within that cadre.

NBA which was having its annual general conference in Port Harcourt, had specifically warned lawyers and the recipients of the SAN award, to boycott the swearing-in ceremony, stressing that, “any legal practitioner that attended the ceremony will not be referred to by members of the NBA with any rank.

As the umbrella body of legal practitioners in the country, NBA had written to the former CJN, asking him to follow the tradition of the judiciary by deferring the ceremony till September 19, which was not only the originally slated date for the event, but equally marks the beginning of a fresh legal year.

It queried the urgency on the part of the former CJN to conduct the swearing-in ceremony before vacating office, noting that it would not be in the interest of the celebrants to host the event within the Muslim Ramadan period.

More so, it is customary for every sitting president of the NBA to deliver a speech at such legal event, a period that accord them ample opportunity to offer constructive criticism on any perceived anomaly in the profession.

Meantime, despite NBA’s threat, all the 30 SAN awardees,  presented themselves for the purpose of being administered oath of office by the retired CJN.

They justified the decision on the premise that their primary allegiance should be to the Supreme Court of Nigeria which they said granted them licence to practise as lawyers in the country and not the NBA.

Pre and Post Election petitions

Aside from the internal wrangling  that characterized  this legal year, various court rooms were also caught in the election frenzy that engulfed the country in April general elections.

Without prejudice to the absurdities that manifested in so many conflicting interim court injunctions that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC grappled with, before, and after the general elections, there is still suspense on the actual expiration date of tenure of five sitting governors.

The expectations followed a judgment that was delivered on February 23 by trial Justice Adamu Bello of the Abuja Federal High Court, extending the tenure of the governors till next year.

Specifically, Justice Bello, relying on section 180 (2) of the 1999 constitution, set dates for the expiration of their tenure as, Governor Ibrahim Idris, Kogi, April 5, 2012; Aliyu Wammakko, Sokoto, May 8, 2012, Timipre Sylva, Bayelsa, May 29, 2012, Liyel Imoke, Cross River, August 28, 2012, and Murtala Nyako, Adamawa, April 30, 2012.

Though INEC appealed the verdict, the Abuja Division of the appellate court on April 15, dismissed the appeal and affirmed the earlier decision of the trial court, thereby, resulting to the electoral body taking the case before the Supreme Court.

Now, the apex court has heard and reserved its judgment on the matter, what then happens, if the interpretation given to section 180(2) of the constitution by the lower courts is invalidated?

In the same vein, the apex court yesterday delivered judgment in the appeal filed by the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP over results that INEC ascribed to President Goodluck Jonathan after the April 19 presidential election.

The CPC had on March 8, filed a petition before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, alleging that its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, was shortchanged at the election.

It challenged results that were declared for the PDP in 17 states in the South, in Sokoto, Kaduna, Plateau, Kwara, Benue, Adamawa and Nasarawa states in the North, as well as in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, insisting that ballot papers meant for specific polling units were illegally diverted to other units and subsequently used for ballot stuffing.

After months of intrigue, a 5 man panel presided by Justice Bayaang Kumai Akaahs, on November 1, dismissed the petition, a situation that shifted the matter to the Supreme Court.

Code of Conduct Trial

Beside the regular courts, the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, got its fair share of the uncanny drama.

The case between the Code of Conduct Bureau and the former governor of Lagos state and leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Asiwaju  Bola Tinubu, though it drew commendation for the judiciary, it drew flaks and knocks  on the federal government from various quarters.

Though the government still maintain that Tinubu  has a case to answer. A 3-man panel headed by Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar, on November 29, said he had no case to answer over an amended 3-count charge that was preferred against him for allegedly operating 10 foreign accounts while in office as governor of Lagos state between 1999 and 2007. The offence  the government said was in contravention of section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap C15 LFN, 2004.

Many had wondered why the case suddenly became top priority many years after Tinubu had left office, while others regarded it as a bid to witch hunt the opposition. Whichever way, the ex-governor was given a clean bill of health, even as the case was dismissed as grossly lacking in merit.

Reps Leadership in the Dock

This chronology will not be complete without a brief mention of the drama trailing the trial of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and his erstwhile deputy, Usman Bayero Nafada by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Whereas only Bankole was charged with allegation that he inflated the cost of several contracts that were awarded during his tenure, to the tune of about N897million, he was equally charged alongside his deputy over alleged roles they played in a N40 billion loan scam that rocked the 6th session of the House of Representatives.

Though the duo pleaded innocent to the allegations preferred against them. However, the Federal High Court in Abuja where the ex-speaker is facing a 16-count criminal charge and a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT,  where both of them  are facing a 17-count charge, held in their separate rulings that they have criminal cases to answer.

Meanwhile, the respective cases have been adjourned till next year.

Efforts to reform the Judiciary

The CJN had on October 14, 2011 inaugurated the 29-member committee to look into the rot in the judiciary.

The committee, which had as its members, eminent Nigerian jurists and legal practitioners was mandated to look into the trial process, procedural inefficiencies, poor infrastructure, poor conditions of service for judicial and non–judicial officers, declining intellectual quality and reasoning content of delivered judgments and, corruption.

The committee also looked into how to restructure and reposition the National Judicial Council, the Federal Judicial Service Commission and the National Judicial Institute. Other areas the committee worked on included constitutional review of all Superior Courts of Records as well as the lower courts.

As the nation bids farewell to this legal year, one fact that remains incontrovertible is that it never had a dull moment.