The survival of true justice is the survival of any nation. The current election petition tribunal and Court of Appeal judgments in some of the election petitions is what most analysts have described as tsunami, as some of the judicial rulings have put many Nigerians in doubt whether to pursue legal matters or not.
This why Mr. Jubrin Okutekpa, SAN, bluntly said that, from some decisions emanating from the courts, there is no need to seek electoral justice in Nigeria courts or tribunal anymore. “Nothing you do that the judicial system will not find faults with. The signs coming from our courts show that elections or selections in 2027 will be war. Yes, war. Winning at all costs without regard to democratic tenets.” He hinted.
Well, it could be debated that the days of Judicial prudence and respect, including fear of God, is gone because of the loss of confidence and sanctity in the discharge of justice by the courts, which many have seen to be hanging in disguise of tactics rather than substantive evidence.
We could remember the likes of late jurists, Justice Niki Tobi. CON, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa,among others that gave the country confidence of justice without technicality. They were equal to the task without being biased. I am sure, if the dead could rise and talk, the ghost of the likes of Oputa, Tobi, would have protested most of our courts ruling on elections and other legal matters.
Just as most citizens are totally losing faith in the judiciary, retired supreme court justices in their various valedictory services have further indicted the judiciary, their own profession, particularly, the revelation given by retired Justice Dattijo Muhammed, when he said, the judiciary is something else while he also accused the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola of abusing power.
We remember similar scenario when former CJN, Mohammed Tanko who was accused of corruption, maladministration and incompetence by fourteen Supreme Court Justices, but Tanko merely defended himself by describing the justices’ outburst as dancing naked at the market square.
In the end, Justice Tanko was never probed, rather he quickly resigned on June 27, 2023, citing ill-health, whereas former CJN, Walter Onnoghen, whom he took over from was hastily tried and removed on a controversial allegations against him by Federal government led by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, as both the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) found the CJN guilty.
Onnoghen resigned on April 18, 2019 and was barred from holding public office for ten years, whereas the grievous allegations of corruption against Tanko was put in dustbin as he went home with fat account under same former President Muhammadu Buhari, whose regime was a curse to Nigeria and by extension to humanity.
Yes, a nation without men of integrity, honesty, and equity, can never see the light of development. Some of the judicial pronouncement especially on the 2023 election has generated controversies Now that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed serious concern on what he called radical ruling against the spirit of democracy. This was after the Court of Appeal sacked four governors, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State (PDP), Kabir Yusuf of Kano state (NNPP), Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau state ( PDP), and Engr. Abdullahi Sule, Nassaraw State, (APC), which Court of Appeal has restored his mandate few days ago.
That is not all, many lawmakers have been sacked from their seats by the Court across the country. Just yesterday there was protest in Kano and Nasarawa State against these judgments. Should the judiciary continue in this trend every four years in deciding our leaders after election, should INEC continue to join hands in defending illegality or remain neutral, if not, then, we should be ready for war in 2027.
This was why Chief Obasanjo had questioned the validity of democracy and wondered why the judiciary has taken centre stage rather than the will of the people. In fact, he faulted most of the judicial rulings and tagged them: “cathedral pronouncements”. He spoke at a high-level consultation on Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy in Africa held at Green Resort Legacy, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, last week. His worries
“I believe whatever form of democracy we have or whatever system of government we have, three or four men in the judiciary should not be able to overturn the decisions of millions that have voted. Now, we have to find a way to handle that. “I don’t know what the way will be but, for me, I think it’s totally unacceptable that millions (of votes), maybe 10million on one side, maybe 9million on the other side. Then, you have five people sitting down, three of them agree, two disagree. And you come up and make cathedral pronouncements that cannot be changed. I believe that should not be accepted.”
“How do we do it? I don’t know. But whatever form of democracy we have, we should look at how to handle this. If you say ‘go again for election,’ then, what happened to the previous election? I don’t know. “So, I personally feel strongly about. It does not matter what you say about the judiciary, but in fact only five people or seven will sit down. If they are five, three may agree, two may not agree, and the decision of three will be final. All that you have done comes to the decision of three or decision of four.”
Whether we like it or not, the former president has spoken the truth. We cannot pretend that the country is practicing true democracy rather, some thoughts have said, not at all. Whether we are going to accept that, Nigeria is heading towards Judiciacracy, is left for us all to decide. We love this country very well and we want development, peace and justice. Nigerians do not need endsars on judiciary, as it was in police brutality protest nationwide in 2020.
And so, efforts must be made to restore the confidence of justice, fairness and equity while jettisoning all technicalities and focus more on evidence and the will of the Nigerian people. We must begin to adopt Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah’s recommendation he made during his interview with BusinessDay on election petition tribunal:
“We must learn to exhaust these rules and processes that we have set for ourselves by force of law. We have come to this moment of, ‘All eyes on the judiciary.’ It is marked by anxiety and hope and this is good because, at the same time, it is a measure of how important the judiciary is to us. I hope this will be the last time we will have to rely on the Judiciary to interfere in our elections. We must amend the law to correct this injustice and insist that officials are sworn in at the end of the processes.” It is time to rethink and reform the judiciary with dignity.
Let us imbibe the spirit of Martin Luther Jr. That reminded us that, the thing we need in this world today, is a group of men and women who will stand up for right and be opposed to wrong, whenever it is. Complemented by Carlyle who said: ‘No lie can live forever’. Even as William Cullen Bryant stressed, that, truth, crushed to earth, will rise again It is time to breath the truth.
Mark Orgu, is the editor, Afrikanwatch Network, wrote from Lagos (08028592006)
SOURCE: VANGUARD
