The Concept Of Court Orders In Nigeria By Mohammed Ibrahim Abdul

Introduction
Nigeria is a country that champions federalism. Literally,
federalism means a system of government that adopted in a country,
it is the aspects of federalism that each of the three (3) levels
of government shall be independent and there should be a judicial
body that will settle the dispute between the three tiers of
government.

The judiciary is an arm of government that charge with the
responsibility of interpreting the law, adjudicating the matter and
punish the offender who has found been guilty in respect of
criminal case that brought before the court. Under the
administration of justice in Nigeria, there is a court system, a
court is an incorporeal political being, which requires for its
existence, the presence of a judge, or a competent number of them,
and a clerk or prothonotary, at the time during which,and at the
place where it is by law authorized to be held; and the performance
of some public act, indicative of a design to perform the functions
of a court.

However, it is a duty of a court to issue an order in respect of
a matter when it is necessary. Let us go through and discuss the
meaning of a court order.

Generally, a court order is an official declaration or
declarations made by a recognized court of law and signed by a
judge. It may be issued by a single judge or multiple judges that
are a part of a panel of judges. The court order may be a ruling or
a direction of the court to one or both of the parties and may be
made pursuant to a hearing a trial, an appeal or another court
decision. A court order authorizes(and may require) that certain
instruction be carried out by one or more of the parties to a
lawsuit or case.

In the legal system of this country, a court order triumphs and
persists over every order. The court has, in the case
of Ogunleye Vs Aina (2012)28 WRN 41, stated
that “A court order comes to effect, from the date of issue or
pronouncement, and must be respected and obeyed “from the above
decision of the court,you may comprehend that,once a court
pronounces an order, it is binding upon every person or authority,
no law that grants power to any person or authority to disesteem
the order of a court, the decision of the court shall be enforced
in any part of the federation by all authorities and persons, it is
clearly stated in the provision of section 287(3) of
the 1999 constitution of FRN as amended 2011“.

The decision of the Federal High Court, High Court and other
courts established by this constitution shall be enforced in any
part of the federation by all authorities and persons,and by other
courts of law with subordinates jurisdiction to that of the Federal
High Court and those other courts,respectively”also the court
has,in Jallo Vs Military Governor of Kano State
(1991)5 N.W.L.R pt 194 at 764” so it is clear intention of
the constitution in section 287(3) that the Attorney general ensure
that judgement of court of the land given against the government
and its department are enforce” it is obvious that failure to
comply with court order or decision of court is considered to be
contempt of a court.

Contempt of Court means,deliberately disobeying of a court
order, the conduct can occur in or out of court, contempt of court
may be punishable by fine or imprisonment. In Awobokun
Vs Adeyemi(1968)2 NWLR 286 at 206 “contempt of court
occurs when a person to whom an order of the court of competent
jurisdiction is directed to do or to refrain from doing an act
defies the order or seeks one subterfuge or the other to refuse to
comply with the order” the court has discretionary power to refuse
to entertain a matter when one of the parties refused to comply
with the court orders.

In A.G Federation Vs Courtney LTD (2014) AELR
3966, presided over by Justice Amiru Sunusi, the Court of
appeal Abuja division held that”failure by a litigant to obey an
order given by a court having jurisdiction, amounts to contempt of
court and court therefore has inherent jurisdiction to refuse to
entertain any application by the contemnor until and unless such
contemnor obeys or complies with the order given or made by the
court against him”, clearly, an order of a court is beyond every
order.

Conclusion
This article contains a little idea of what court order is and the
consequences of failure to obey an order of a court. From the above
mentioned constitutional provisions and judicial authorities, you
must have understood the meaning of a court order.

Written by Mohammed Ibrahim Abdul *LL.B III, Bayero University,
Kano.