Disobedience Of Court Orders, An Intimidation By The Executive Arm – O.G. Ogbom, Esq

It appears that we are closer to a full-blown dictatorship.

A state of affairs in which the Executive that is headed by
someone who swore an oath, that is, made a covenant with the people
of God that he would respect and obey the constitution, and which
includes total and unwatered obedience of the orders of the court,
turns round to mock the constitution by refusing to be faithful to
court orders, or indulging in cheap tactics or being begged by the
same people to use his to obey the order of the court is indeed a
respite for denouement, desecrating, denouncing and dethroning the
rule of law, and an onward march towards anarchy.

I feel troubled, and I tremble whenever I read in the Newspapers
how various security agencies and their minions spurn and treat the
orders of the courts with levity….leaving the impression that since
the courts have neither the police nor guns nor the army to enforce
whatever orders they make they could treat such orders with
impunity. Our Constitution vests the enforcement of the orders
of the court in appropriate cases in the Executive. 

In GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE V. ODUMEGWU-OJUKWU* (1986) 1 NWLR
(Pt. 18) 621 at 633, the Supreme court came down heavily, when
Kayode Eso, JSC, stated unequivocally:

“I think it is a very serious matter for anyone to flout a
positive order of Court ….. It is more serious when the act of
flouting the order of Court, the contempt of Court, is by the
Executive. …I think… for the Executive, which holds the physical
powers, to put up itself in sabotage or deliberate contempt of the
other is to stage an executive subversion of the Constitution it is
to uphold” Also, in APC V KARFI. (2015) LPELR-41857, WAMBAI,
J.C.A., stated as follows: ”Disobedience to Court orders is a very
serious matter which should not be condoned, glossed over or
treated with kids glove but must be seriously frowned at and
appropriately handled before it erodes the very foundation of
adjudication and stultifies the administration of justice. When we
allow the very foundation of adjudication to be eroded with disdain
then we should be ready to say “goodbye” to Rule of Law, Peace, and
Orderliness and welcome to “anarchy”, and “chaos”, and the whole
society suffers for it.”(pp.45-46,paras D-B).

The decision of the government to continue to detain Sowere
after he has been granted bail by a competent Court amounts to
great danger.
The move to appeal the ruling has no effect on the enforcement of
the court’s order. It will be an exercise in futility as it has
been held that the liberty of a citizen cannot be stayed.

I call on President Buhari to obey the Order to release
Sowere.

O.G. Ogbom, Esq, ll.b, ll.m, is a Port Harcourt based
lawyer.

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