Opinion
Before Judgment Day
By Chris Gyang
All over the country, some of the judgements of some of the elections tribunals and the subsequent ones at the appellate courts have generated considerable ill-feelings and controversies.
But that of Plateau State has attracted more attention because of the contradictory verdicts the tribunals gave on the same matter of whether or not the issue of the Peoples Democratic Party’s possession of a structure should form the basis for litigation at all.
Notwithstanding, 11 and 4 PDP members in the state and national parliaments respectively have been sacked by the Appeal Court.
But before judgement day in the gubernatorial elections disputes presently before the Supreme Court, is there anything more to say about the issues related to these verdicts than what the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has already said?
In an article he penned for SAHARA REPORTERS (September 26, 2023), the legal luminary lamented, “Increasingly but alarmingly, it is gaining ground that Nigerians now believe that justice is for sale.”
He appeared to obliquely refer to the controversial judgements in the Plateau cases that have exceedingly vexed and perplexed Nigerians and thrown many distinguished lawyers into great quandary when he submitted:
“How does it sound that judgement is no longer based on law or precedent? The law that has become totally unpredictable, even for the same set of facts… as we now have different decisions, even of the Supreme Court, in the same set of facts and circumstances.”
Going forward, and before that looming judgement day, is there anything more we can say that will surpass the shocking revelations the retired Supreme Court juror, Hon. Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammadu, made in his valedictory speech at the Supreme Court on October 22, 2023?
Having served in the Nigerian judicial system for close to five decades and in the Supreme Court for eleven years (where he rose to become the second-in-command), we must concede that anything he says about it will be no fluke. So it must be taken with all the seriousness it deserves.
He sadly underscored the skepticisms of many Nigerians about the calling that had been his passion for close to half a century: “Public perceptions of the judiciary have over the years become witheringly scornful and monstrously critical. It has been in the public space that court officials and judges are easily bribed by litigants to obviate delays and or obtain favourable judgements.”
This perfectly rhymes with Adegboruwa’s notion of transactional justice referenced above.
“Recently,” Justice Mohammad proceeded, “fresh allegations have been made that children and other relatives of serving and retired judges and justices are being appointed into judicial offices at the expense of more qualified candidates lacking in such privilege and backing.”
He disclosed that this trend had reached such preposterously scandalous levels that even the concubines of these judges were being given undue advantage over their more qualified, but less ‘connected’, colleagues.
Furthermore, he revealed, “At the Court of Appeal, it is also asserted, presiding Justices are now being appointed out of turn. And there is the further issue of the unpredictable nature of recent decisions of the courts as well.” Once more, the nagging problem of the uncertainty of court judgements, as enunciated by Adegboruwa rears its ugly head.
To buttress this fact, Justice Mohammed cited the controversial cases of Senator Ahamed Lawal, the immediate past Senate President (whom the country’s top court affirmed on February 6, 2023, as the candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District without contesting the party primaries), and the January 14, 2020, Imo State Supreme Court judgement in favour of Hope Uzodinma.
In view of these and other such questionable rulings, he pointed out that “A number of respected senior members of the bar… claim that decisions of even the apex court have become unpredictable. It is difficult to understand how and where, by these decisions, the judicial pendulum swings. It was not so before, they contend.”
In fact, the European Union Election Observation Mission in Nigeria took serious exception to what happened: “The Nigerian Supreme Court continues to maintain a negative perception after reinstating Senator Ahmed Lawal, who never participated in primaries for the Senate. The high court and appeal court judgements were against this.”
Chidi Odinkalu, a renowned professor of law and human rights activist, also picked holes in the two judgements and took a swipe at the apex court. He said: “What judges cannot do does not exist: they can make the 4th come 1st. And those who withdrew from a primary to become winners. There is breakfast everywhere. Something very interesting is happening in Nigeria’s Supreme Court….” (SAHARA REPORTERS, February 7, 2023).
Also adding his own voice to the conversation about the Imo matter, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, threw in this challenge: “One area that needs critical analysis and interrogation is what makes a candidate that came 4th in an election to be declared winner of that election.
“…. That is the sorry state we are in today, especially since 2015. May God help Nigeria” (VANGUARD, January 15, 2020). Unfortunately, since 2020 when Ozekhome cried out about this desperate state of affairs, matters have only deteriorated.
In his considered opinion and based on his long years of service in the judiciary, Justice Mohammad offers this unflattering assessment:
“In some quarters the view is strongly held that filth and intrigues characterize the institution these days! Judges are said to be comfortable in companies they never would have kept in the past. It is being insinuated that some judicial officers even campaign for the politicians. It cannot be more damnifying!”
Now, before judgement day, is there anything more to say about the nature, roots and consequences of the recent absurd verdicts than former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s take on the issues? To the straight-talking statesman, it is “totally unacceptable” for between three to five justices to overturn the mandate of millions of voters given to their choice candidates during elections.
According to VANGUARD newspaper (November 22, 2023), he cautioned political leaders and the powers-that-be about the dangers that lay ahead if these judgements are not overturned by the Supreme Court.
His strong views about the drawbacks inherent in the judiciary overturning the mandate of millions of citizens through judicial fiat resonates well with this writer. A little background would suffice here.
The origins of the current gale of sackings of Plateau State’s elected PDP lawmakers can be traced to 2021 when the courts excluded the main opposition Party from the October 9, 2021, local government polls. The ruling APC went on to ‘win’ all the chairmanship seats in the 17 local government areas along with the 325 councillorship positions.
Commenting on those events, yours sincerely had decried that travesty as the machination of politicians and their ilk whose consciences had long perished. Then I made the point that as a result of what transpired, we had been left with a situation “where a whole generation and millions of eligible voters were so flagrantly disenfranchised and their rights squashed in one fell swoop” (VANGUARD, October 17, 2021).
Yes, indeed, before judgement day, there is a little that more ordinary citizens can also say about what is currently happening. These petty laymen who know very little about the dizzying intricacies of the law? Yes, they can also say something.
It is widely believed that a few individuals and interests have hijacked this democracy; they have turned politics into an alibi for their self-serving interests.
But it must be said that even the much-awaited Supreme Court judgement, insignificant as it may appear in the face of the substantial damage that has already been inflicted on Plateau State’s representatives at the state and federal parliaments, may well make a world of difference – if it swings in accordance with the majority of citizens’ wishes.
Those candidates who ‘won’ the elections through the instrumentalities of the appellate court argue that their counterparts who claim they were robbed are simply being bad losers; that if the judgements had turned out the other way, the same people complaining would have applauded those jurists as having upheld justice and fairness.
But that is just being too simplistic, pedestrian, even wicked.
There is something about truly winning, or losing, a court case that makes all parties walk away feeling satisfied that, indeed, justice was served. It is that certainty, that soothing spirit of relief that justice was served, that makes the convicted felon serve his sentence with the full understanding that he is doing time for the wrong he actually committed.
Human beings, no matter how primitive, immoral and uncouth, are imbued with a moral compass, a conscience, that shows them the difference between wrong and right. It also pricks them whenever they cheat or fall foul of the law.
Let’s be very clear about this: The highly esteemed justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria are bound to hold and espouse very strong ideological and world views. Most times, these guide them in their arduous tasks of the dispensation of justice at that highest echelon of the justice delivery system and, to a certain extent, their personal lives.
This is true even in the United States of America, which prides itself as the bastion of modern liberal democracy, after which Nigeria adopted its own version.
That is why the January 22, 1973, Roe vs. Wade landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court which guaranteed the woman’s right to abortion was overturned by the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022. In a way, President Trump had set the tone for that decision when he appointed conservative-leaning justices to the apex court which put them in the majority.
Apparently, even the justices of the highest courts in the world’s leading democracies are known to openly exhibit their ideological proclivities or persuasions. Which is why they are mostly appointed by Presidents based on their ideological leanings.
However, and mark this, these iconic guardians of the temple of law are expected to be beyond partisanship when it comes to absolute matters of the law. Their personal world views, ideological bents and political affiliations must never deliberately interfere with their interpretation of the finer details, the spirit and substance, of the law.
During an interview for The New Yorker (November 11, 2021), Isaac Chotiner asked Linda Joyce Greenhouse this follow-up question: “Maybe the question is, do we want the Supreme Court Justices to think of themselves as political actors?”
The Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter replied: “It’s not a simple yes or no. It’s impossible for anybody to say the Court is not a political actor. I mean, it obviously is. It’s in the thick of our politics. I’m certainly not arguing to the contrary.
“Then the next step, as you say, is, well, what should each individual justice think about that? And should they tailor the arc of their careers with that in mind? And I just think that’s a very personal decision for each one [of them to make].”
It is not too late to still save and restore to Plateau State some semblance of hope, no matter how little, no matter how late. It may just be that proverbial timely stitch that saves nine. If some things are worth fighting for this is certainly one of them.
Surely, there is still a glimmer of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel, that justice will be restored to the true winners of the gubernatorial ballot. In my October 17, 2021, intervention from which I quoted above, I ended on a note of hope and optimism for true restoration.
I have not relented. Which is why I shall close with these same words as I did two years ago: “Even in this thick atmosphere of despondency, growing out of a collective feeling of shattered hopes, and mutual suspicion, brought about by our fractured unity, there is a glimmer of hope that out of all these may yet emerge a stronger democratic Plateau State – and Nigeria.”
GYANG is the Chairman of the N.G.O, Journalists Coalition for Citizens’ Rights Initiative – JCCRI. Emails: info@jccri-online.org; chrisgyang 01@gmail.com
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