Dons Eze
CONFLICTING COURT DECISIONS CAPABLE OF DERAILING NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY – OZEKHOME
Worried by the confusion caused by conflicting rulings and judgments of courts of coordinate jurisdiction, a professor of Law, Mike Ozekhome said the development must be fought frontally as it has the capacity to derail the country’s democracy.
Recently, precisely September 30, 2024, a Federal High Court in Abuja and that of Rivers state division, with coordinate jurisdiction gave conflicting rulings in suits on the Rivers state Local Government election held on Saturday, October 5, 2024.
While Justice Peter Lifu of the Abuja Division of the Court stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, (RSIEC) for the purpose of conducting the local government election in the state, Justice I.P.C Igwe of the Rivers State Judicial Division okayed the conduct of the Local Government election in the state.
Justice Lifu issued the order while delivering judgment in a suit brought before him by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the legality or otherwise of the processes leading to fixing of October 5 date for the election.
The court also barred the Inspector General of Police (IGP and the Department of the State Service (DSS) from participating and providing security for the conduct of the local government poll.
Justice Lifu held that the RSIEC was wrong in fixing the October 5 date for the conduct of the election when all relevant laws guiding the election had not been complied with and further held, among others, that the Rivers State electoral body violated provisions of the local government election conduct law by not publishing the mandatory 90 days notice before fixing the date.
He also held that the update and revision of voters’ register by INEC ought to have been concluded 90 days before an election date can be legally and validity fixed in law and consequently ordered INEC not to make the certified voters’ register available to RSIEC until all relevant laws have been fully complied with and also barred the RSIEC from accepting any voters’ register from INEC or using it for the purpose of the October 5 local governments election.
Justice Igwe of the Rivers state Division had, in his own ruling on the suit filed by the Action Peoples Party (APP) held that, the RSIEC, Rivers State Government and the Governor of Rivers State who are Defendants are bound to make adequate provision for election into the Local Government Councils of Rivers State and to ensure that the affairs of the Local Government Councils in Rivers State are conducted by democratically elected Local Government Councils.
He declared that in view of Section 5 (a) of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission Law No 2 of 2018, Section 9(1)(a), (4) to (6) of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the exigencies of the decision of the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered on July 11, 2024 in suit numbered, SC/CV/343/2024 between the Attorney-General of the Federation Vs Attorney-General of Abia State and 35 others, RSIEC is entitled to utilize the national register of voters for the 2023 general elections compiled by INEC pursuant to Section 9(1)(a), (4) to (6) of the Electoral Act, 2022 to conduct election into the 23 Local Government Councils of Rivers State.
Justice Igwe said, with the judgement of the apex court and the expiration of the tenure of the former democratically elected Local Government Councils in Rivers State on June 17, 2024, the Defendants are bound to conduct election into the Local Government Councils in Rivers State within the shortest possible time to comply with aforesaid judgment of the Supreme Court.
He then issued an order of mandatory injunction, “Compelling the 1st Defendant (RSIEC) to conduct election into Local Government Councils of Rivers State on the 5th Day of October 2024 or on any other date fixed by the 1st Defendant in accordance with its Electoral Guidelines to comply with the aforesaid Judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and to take all necessary steps towards the conduct of the said elections including sale of forms to candidates and their parties, Including the claimant who is interested in sponsoring candidates for offices in the Local Government Councils.
“That an order of mandatory Injunction is further issued directing or commanding the 1st Defendant to utilize the national register of voters for the 2023 general election compiled by INEC pursuant to Section 9 (1)(a), (4) to (6) of the Electoral Act, 2022 to conduct election into the 23 Local Government Councils of Rivers State.
“That the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, the Nigeria Army and all other security agencies and paramilitary organisations are hereby ordered to provide adequate security and ensure maintenance of peace, law and order during and after the election,” he ruled.
Reacting to the development, Ozekhome told Tribune Online that giving conflicting judgements by two courts of coordinate jurisdiction has become a worrisome development that must be fought frontally.
He said Lawyers and Judges are complicit in the infamous mantra and further noted that, “It becomes difficult to know what judgement to follow since people involved may decide to pick and choose which one favours them.
“That has just played out in Rivers State,” Ozekhome stated.
While speaking with Tribune Online on the issue, a Lawyer and the Vice President of the African Bar Association (West African Region), Samson Osagie said there are no conflicting court orders in the case of the Rivers state Local Government election.
He said, “What happens is that parties to political disputes abuse the processes of court by filing actions in different jurisdictions of the courts in order to obtain favorable judgements or orders.”
According to him, when a court is confronted with a particular set of facts it deals with those facts on the basis of the applicable law without knowing that those same sets of facts have been twisted by other parties before a different court, usually with coordinate powers and jurisdiction who also deal with same matter on the basis of law.
At the end, he said, you find a matter in which different courts had made orders.
In his words, “The solution to this despicable abuse of court processes by litigants and their lawyers is to insist that matters arising from a particular jurisdiction should be heard in that jurisdiction rather that a matter in Asaba for instance taken to Federal High Court in Lagos for hearing.
“What happened to the Federal High Court in Asaba when the issues in contention relates to the action of the Government of Delta State or any of its agency?
“This method of shopping for forum by litigants and lawyers should be seriously sanctioned by courts and the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) in order to bring some sanity,” he said.
Osagie said, Judges should also be wary of accepting to adjudicate on matters emanating from territorial jurisdictions outside their own territorial jurisdictions.
In this way, he said, cases on same facts are likely to be consolidated by same court and judgement delivered one way or the order without the possibility of two different courts of coordinate jurisdictions hearing same matter and making varying orders.
