By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

EARLY January, the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, issued a 30-day to the Security Adviser, NSA, and the Inspector General of Police, IG, to unmask those behind an explosion that rocked premises of a Rivers State High Court at Ahoada on January 5.

The incident activated the panic button both within and outside judicial cycles, with the NBA, giving the NSA and the IG, 30 days to unmask those behind the explosion.

The body of lawyers described the attack as “sacrilegious”, saying it was a desecration of the temple of justice.

As legal activities gradually kicked-off after the long vacation, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on January 13, approached the Federal High Court in Abuja for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal and 52 other lawmakers from altering or changing the leadership of the House.

In an affidavit in support of its motion on notice for interlocutory injunction, PDP told the high court that a ‘rebel’ group of 46 lawmakers, led by the Minority Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila,  had perfected plans to change the leadership of the House of Reps (1st defendant) upon resumption from their recess.

It prayed the court to compel the lawmakers, including those that decamped to the All Progressives Congress, APC, to maintain their status-quo pending the hearing and final determination of its Motion on Notice.

On that same day, Justice Ademola Adeniyi of the same court ordered that funds standing to the credit of the judiciary in the federal account/consolidated revenue fund, should be paid directly to the heads of courts of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

Delivering judgment in a suit filed by Judiciary Staff Association of Nigeria, JUSUN, an umbrella body of workers in the justice sector, the court, held that going by the provisions of sections 81(3), 212(3) and 162(9) of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, it was illegal and unconstitutional for the judiciary arm of government in various states of the federation to continue receiving their statutory allocations in piecemeal through the states’ Ministry of Finance as and when the governors so desire, a system it said breeds corruption.

On January 17, the Supreme Court, directed the Federal Government to prosecute the eldest son of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Mohammed, over his alleged complicity in the illegal diversion of public funds to a foreign account that belonged to his father.

In an unanimous judgment, a five-man panel of Justices of the apex court held that Mohammed had a criminal case to answer regarding the 123-count charge that was earlier preferred against him by the Federal Government, which bordered on criminal conspiracy, breach of public trust, receiving and helping to starch stolen funds abroad.

The NBA, on January 31, announced its decision to boycott the National Conference in protest against the fact that the association was given only a single slot at the confab.

On February 14, respite came the way of the erstwhile Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Dimeji Bankole, as the FHC in Abuja discharged and acquitted him over allegation that he used fake companies and defrauded the federal government to the tune of N894 million while he was in office.

Justice Evoh Chukwu freed him after his no-case-application against the 16-count charge that was filed against him by the EFCC was upheld. The PDP, on March 6, dragged the Senate President, David Mark, and 11 other serving Senators that were elected on its platform but defected to opposition APC before the FHC Abuja, asking that their seats be declared vacant.

It urged the court to order INEC to conduct elections in the affected senatorial zones to fill the vacant seats.

Aside political matters, the year under review equally witnessed the trial of alleged members of the Boko Haram sect. The FHC had on March 7, denied bail to Dr. Mohammed Yunus, a lecturer at the Kogi State University, accused of being the spiritual leader of a Boko Haram cell situated at Igala land in Kogi State. On March 9, tBayelsa state government dragged the EFCC to court, asking that the sum of N1.4billion and another $1.3million that were recovered from the former governor of the state, Diepreye Alamieyesiegha, be remitted to its treasury.

More so, it prayed the court to order EFCC to pay 21 per cent interest on the N1.4 Billion and the $1.3 million from November 1, 2013, until the judgment day.

President Goodluck Jonathan, on March 17, approved the appointment of 25 new Justices for the Court of Appeal.

Criminal charge

Their appointment which was prompted by the demise, retirement and elevation of some Justices of the court to the Supreme Court, increased the number of Justices of the appellate court from 70 to 90.

On March 20, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, challenged the jurisdiction of the court to try him over a fresh 42-count criminal charge that was preferred against him by the EFCC.

Sylva, who was accused of using three separate companies to siphon money from the state treasury, insisted that the anti-graft agency ought to have filed the matter in Bayelsa state where the alleged offence was committed. On  March 20, four survivors of a botched recruitment exercise of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, that resulted to the death of 18 persons nationwide, took the Federal Government to court.

The plaintiffs, Charles Ugwuonye, Friday Danlami, Chinedu Onwuka and Samson Ojo, urged the court to declare that the conduct of the recruitment exercise was illegal, unwarranted and amounted to a gross violation of the applicants’ fundamental rights to life.

Besides, they prayed the court to award the sum of N50m to families of the deceased applicants as general damages and also declare that the federal government, violated the applicants right to protection from inhuman and degrading treatment, right to dignity of the human person, right against discrimination on the basis of the circumstances of birth, and right against unlawful taking of the property of a person; under Sections 33, 34, 42 and 44 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

Meanwhile, following the stoic stance the Federal Government took despite pressure from different quarters, a United Kingdom based Nigerian, Mr. Teriah Ebah, sued the Government to court, argued that the newly enacted same sex marriage law, was inconsistent with the provisions of sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 constitution, as amended.

He sought for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Nigerian government, whether by itself or by its officers, agents, servants or privies, from enforcing the provisions of Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013, particularly sections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the said Act.

Likewise, the Court of Appeal in Abuja on May 12, declined to quash the criminal charge that was preferred against the former Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on fuel subsidy probe, Farouk Lawal, by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC.

The duo were specifically accused of demanding and collecting bribe from the Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, Femi Otedola, as an inducement to remove the name of his company from the report of the House of Reps Ad-hoc committee on monitoring of fuel subsidy regime. Farouk was said to have pocketed the sum of $620,000 as part payment for the illegal deal.

Securing a release

On June 3, former Minister of Education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, wife of former CJN, Mrs. Maryam Uwais and 15 others, went to court to challenge the powers of the Nigerian Police Force to ban any form of protest within the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, aimed at securing the release of the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls that were abducted by the Boko Haram sect.

In an application for the enforcement of fundamental human right to peaceful assembly and association which they filed before an Abuja High Court at Maitama, the plaintiffs, insisted that the Commissioner of Police for the FCT, Mr. Joseph Mbu, was bereft of the constitutional powers to stop the “BringOurGirls” protests.

On June 9, the Police, in a bid to fast track the process for the extradition of Aminu Ogwuche, the alleged mastermind of the April 14 bomb explosion that killed over 100 persons at a motor park in Nyanya Abuja, entered charges against him before the Federal High Court in Abuja.