Concerns Mount As Court Injunctions, Orders Threaten Nation’s Democracy

*Rulings for sale to highest bidder

The increasing meddlesome interventions of the judiciary in
almost every stratum of the political turf is fast threatening the
nation’s hard earned democracy and becoming a source of concern to
stakeholders, especially, as the country moves closer to the 2023
elections.

From Port Harcourt to Kebbi and then, Calabar as seen in the
past few days in the Peoples Democratic (PDP) as well as events
leading to the Anambra gubernatorial election, stakeholders are
worried that the trend signposts possible dangers ahead, even as
they rebuked members of the judiciary for making themselves readily
available for the dirty biddings of politicians.

The courts, many well-meaning Nigerians are worried, might have
become a market place for politicians to buy injunctions and
exparte orders, and at the rate things are going, it may be
difficult to draw the lines that Judges will not cross just to do
the bidding of politicians.

The ease with which judges allow themselves to be manipulated by
senior lawyers in pursuit of narrow self-interest is baffling to
many, who now see the judiciary as a major threat to the nation’s
democracy. Some of the actions of judges defy logic and reason
causing the layman on the street to ask questions and raise
suspicion of underhand dealings.

“The situation is now embarrassing. It is now so easy for any
group to move into any court to get a judgment. All they need do is
to get a pliant judge. It is unfortunate that the judges are the
ones that determine, who holds political position in Nigeria.

“There are so many interventions by the judiciary across the
country. They make governors, senators; they issue injunctions and
they now sell injunctions. You have case in Akwa Ibom, you go to
Sokoto to get a judgment and then INEC has to obey. So, it is an
abuse. With the way they are going, you can even get an injunction
for marriages in Jigawa,” a senior lawyer, who pleaded to remain
anonymous, said.

For instance, in the PDP, early last week, a High Court in
Rivers State, had issued an order of interim injunction,
restraining Uche Secondus from carrying on as national chairman of
the party, pending the hearing and determination of a suit
challenging his continued stay in office.

Secondus, according to the ruling, had been ordered to stop
parading himself as a member of the PDP on grounds of his
suspension from the party.

Justice O. Gbasam of the Degema Division of a High Court of
Rivers State, sitting in Port Harcourt, had issued the orders while
delivering ruling in an exparte application by some chieftains of
the PDP in Rivers State.

But two days after, Justice Nusirat. I. Umar, a vacation Judge
of the Kebbi State High Court of coordinate jurisdiction with the
one in Rivers State and who was clearly aware of the case already
in Rivers State, not only entertained the case, she gave her own
orders restoring the embattled National Chairman of the party to
his position.

This was after the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the
Party, Elder Yemi Akinwomi, had assumed leadership of the PDP in
acting capacity.

In a suit brought before her in Birinin Kebbi, the state capital
in case KB/AC/M. 170/2021, Justice Umar said she was satisfied
after reading the affidavit of the respondents that an interim
order should be granted on the purported suspension of Secondus
pending the determination of the case.

“An order of this Honourable court granting leave to the first
respondent (Uche Secondus) to continue exercising all the
constitutional powers of the office of Chairman of PDP (second
defendant) as enshrined in both 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as
amended and the Peoples Democratic Party’s constitution pending the
hearing and final determination of applicant’s motion on notice,”
the order stated.

Regrettably, 24-hours after the Kebbi State ruling, the crisis
in the political party took a new twist as this time another court
in Calabar, Cross River State, further restrained Secondus from
parading himself as chairman as well as from presiding over the
National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party held at the
weekend.

Any right thinking person will know that something was surely
wrong with a system that tolerates such abuse and mockery of such a
critical arm of state. But Judges and many senior lawyers appear to
care less about the consequential implications of their behaviour,
which had brought disrepute and dishonour to the judiciary.

The interim order was issued by the court, presided over by
Justice Edem Kufre, last Friday, upon an application brought by a
member of the party, Enang Wani.

The situation is not different in the All Progressives Grand
Alliance (APGA), which had also been engulfed with leadership
squabble between the Jude Okeke and Victor Oye factions. This has
seen leaders of the same party move from one court to the other
shopping for injunction in their quest to control the party and
ensure their candidates are recognised ahead of the November
gubernatorial election, thus further polarising the party.

In the case of the APGA, former Cnetral Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
Governor, Chukwuma Soludo is having a running battle with Chukwuma
Umeoji. The litigations are tied to who is the authentic Chairman
of APGA in Anambra State amongst Chief Victor Oye, Chief Njoku and
Jude Okeke.

Meanwhile, judges in Anambra, Jigawa, Imo and Abuja have
intervened in the matter causing INEC to at various times list and
delist both the names of Soludo and Umeoji as candidate of
APGA.

The electoral umpire had on July 16 published the name of Umeoji
as the APGA candidate following an order by the Jigawa State High
Court on June 28.

On July 18 justice Charles Okaa of Anambra State High Court
directed INEC to publish Soludo’s name as APGA’s candidate.
Meanwhile justice Iheka of the Imo State High Court again ordered
INEC to publish Umeoji’s name.

Reacting to the confusion, Justice Nwosu-Iheme berated the
judges for indulging politicians, who go round the country shopping
for judgments to enable them be on the ballot. According to her,
the judges, who indulge these politicians are bringing the legal
profession to public ridicule.

The PDP in Anambra State is in a terrible position as the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presently does not
recognise either the Valentine Ozigbo or Senator Ugochukwu Uba
factions, because of a plethora court injunctions.

A former National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC),
Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, was also removed after legal fireworks that
saw the former labour leader and his then rivals from the Federal
High Court in Kano, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court,
among others, in the battle for the soul of the party.

Some three weeks ago, the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) warned that except the leadership of both the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the National Judicial Council
(NJC) intervened, the seemingly endless and conflicting court
orders over political parties’ affairs could jeopardise
preparations for the 2023 general election.

INEC, which lamented the level of distraction the commission had
begun to face as a result of litigations arising from the Anambra
State governorship primary elections, however, restated its
commitment to the use of technology in conducting elections,
because it was the only way to credible and transparent polls.

While maintaining that new and conflicting court orders from all
parts of the country kept flooding its headquarters on a daily
basis, the commission said it was not only frustrating but also
causing it to keep recognising one candidate over the other, and
changing same again in the major political parties.

National Commissioner for Voter Education, Festus Okoye, who
hinted at the concerns in Awka, Anambra State, said, “This
(litigations) is frustrating. What the commission does in terms of
obedience to court orders is that if a judgment comes today, the
commission obeys the order, because it is the latest in time.

“If on the same issue, another court of coordinate jurisdiction,
or from a court of another judicial division comes to us, because
that one is the latest in time, the commission obeys that one.

“So, what the political parties have been doing, and what they
are doing is that they anticipate the commission, and the moment
you’re proceeding, they get court orders. This is impeding our
performance and making things difficult.

“Elections require sanctity and adherence to guidelines, the
leadership of the NBA and the NJC should look at this. This is
urgent and imperative, because if it persists, this can jeopardise
the conduct of the 2023 general election. We are having court
orders on a daily basis from courts in all parts of the country and
that is not right.”

Although sections of the country’s constitution and the
Electoral Act allow the judiciary, (courts and election tribunals)
to intervene particularly, when issues of non-compliance,
manipulation, violence etc are alleged to mar the process of
electing a particular representative, however, recent developments
seems to portray the fact that these days, the judges rather than
the people choose the leaders.

A peculiar case in recent times is that of a South Eastern State
where the governor was referred to as the “Supreme Court” governor,
simply because he was declared winner of the 2019 governorship
election, after coming a distant fourth in the poll.

The intervention of the courts whether at pre-election cases or
election petitions are taking a worrisome dimension as their
judgments to most aggrieved parties and even the people seem to be
far from justice, particularly, when such courts or judges lacked
the necessary jurisdiction in the first place to hear the case
brought before them.

The situation, was so bad that sometime last year, former Chief
Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice
Ishaq Bello had to issue a practice directive warning justice
against delving into cases outside their jurisdiction as well as
issuing all sorts of retraining orders in election matters.

But it seems the warning may have fallen on deaf ears as the
situation rather than abating is getting worse. Only recently, a
Justice of the Court of Appeal, Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, while
delivering judgment called for the punishment of a Jigawa State
High Court judge, Justice Ubale and his Imo State counterpart,
Justice B. C. Iheka over what she described as professional
misconduct by dabbling into the Anambra State gubernatorial
election controversy and gave consequential judgments on it.

Culled from ThisDay, Obinna Chima in Lagos and Alex Enumah in
Abuja

*Rulings for sale to highest bidder

The increasing meddlesome interventions of the judiciary in
almost every stratum of the political turf is fast threatening the
nation’s hard earned democracy and becoming a source of concern to
stakeholders, especially, as the country moves closer to the 2023
elections.

From Port Harcourt to Kebbi and then, Calabar as seen in the
past few days in the Peoples Democratic (PDP) as well as events
leading to the Anambra gubernatorial election, stakeholders are
worried that the trend signposts possible dangers ahead, even as
they rebuked members of the judiciary for making themselves readily
available for the dirty biddings of politicians.

The courts, many well-meaning Nigerians are worried, might have
become a market place for politicians to buy injunctions and
exparte orders, and at the rate things are going, it may be
difficult to draw the lines that Judges will not cross just to do
the bidding of politicians.

The ease with which judges allow themselves to be manipulated by
senior lawyers in pursuit of narrow self-interest is baffling to
many, who now see the judiciary as a major threat to the nation’s
democracy. Some of the actions of judges defy logic and reason
causing the layman on the street to ask questions and raise
suspicion of underhand dealings.

“The situation is now embarrassing. It is now so easy for any
group to move into any court to get a judgment. All they need do is
to get a pliant judge. It is unfortunate that the judges are the
ones that determine, who holds political position in Nigeria.

“There are so many interventions by the judiciary across the
country. They make governors, senators; they issue injunctions and
they now sell injunctions. You have case in Akwa Ibom, you go to
Sokoto to get a judgment and then INEC has to obey. So, it is an
abuse. With the way they are going, you can even get an injunction
for marriages in Jigawa,” a senior lawyer, who pleaded to remain
anonymous, said.

For instance, in the PDP, early last week, a High Court in
Rivers State, had issued an order of interim injunction,
restraining Uche Secondus from carrying on as national chairman of
the party, pending the hearing and determination of a suit
challenging his continued stay in office.

Secondus, according to the ruling, had been ordered to stop
parading himself as a member of the PDP on grounds of his
suspension from the party.

Justice O. Gbasam of the Degema Division of a High Court of
Rivers State, sitting in Port Harcourt, had issued the orders while
delivering ruling in an exparte application by some chieftains of
the PDP in Rivers State.

But two days after, Justice Nusirat. I. Umar, a vacation Judge
of the Kebbi State High Court of coordinate jurisdiction with the
one in Rivers State and who was clearly aware of the case already
in Rivers State, not only entertained the case, she gave her own
orders restoring the embattled National Chairman of the party to
his position.

This was after the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the
Party, Elder Yemi Akinwomi, had assumed leadership of the PDP in
acting capacity.

In a suit brought before her in Birinin Kebbi, the state capital
in case KB/AC/M. 170/2021, Justice Umar said she was satisfied
after reading the affidavit of the respondents that an interim
order should be granted on the purported suspension of Secondus
pending the determination of the case.

“An order of this Honourable court granting leave to the first
respondent (Uche Secondus) to continue exercising all the
constitutional powers of the office of Chairman of PDP (second
defendant) as enshrined in both 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as
amended and the Peoples Democratic Party’s constitution pending the
hearing and final determination of applicant’s motion on notice,”
the order stated.

Regrettably, 24-hours after the Kebbi State ruling, the crisis
in the political party took a new twist as this time another court
in Calabar, Cross River State, further restrained Secondus from
parading himself as chairman as well as from presiding over the
National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party held at the
weekend.

Any right thinking person will know that something was surely
wrong with a system that tolerates such abuse and mockery of such a
critical arm of state. But Judges and many senior lawyers appear to
care less about the consequential implications of their behaviour,
which had brought disrepute and dishonour to the judiciary.

The interim order was issued by the court, presided over by
Justice Edem Kufre, last Friday, upon an application brought by a
member of the party, Enang Wani.

The situation is not different in the All Progressives Grand
Alliance (APGA), which had also been engulfed with leadership
squabble between the Jude Okeke and Victor Oye factions. This has
seen leaders of the same party move from one court to the other
shopping for injunction in their quest to control the party and
ensure their candidates are recognised ahead of the November
gubernatorial election, thus further polarising the party.

In the case of the APGA, former Cnetral Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
Governor, Chukwuma Soludo is having a running battle with Chukwuma
Umeoji. The litigations are tied to who is the authentic Chairman
of APGA in Anambra State amongst Chief Victor Oye, Chief Njoku and
Jude Okeke.

Meanwhile, judges in Anambra, Jigawa, Imo and Abuja have
intervened in the matter causing INEC to at various times list and
delist both the names of Soludo and Umeoji as candidate of
APGA.

The electoral umpire had on July 16 published the name of Umeoji
as the APGA candidate following an order by the Jigawa State High
Court on June 28.

On July 18 justice Charles Okaa of Anambra State High Court
directed INEC to publish Soludo’s name as APGA’s candidate.
Meanwhile justice Iheka of the Imo State High Court again ordered
INEC to publish Umeoji’s name.

Reacting to the confusion, Justice Nwosu-Iheme berated the
judges for indulging politicians, who go round the country shopping
for judgments to enable them be on the ballot. According to her,
the judges, who indulge these politicians are bringing the legal
profession to public ridicule.

The PDP in Anambra State is in a terrible position as the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presently does not
recognise either the Valentine Ozigbo or Senator Ugochukwu Uba
factions, because of a plethora court injunctions.

A former National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC),
Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, was also removed after legal fireworks that
saw the former labour leader and his then rivals from the Federal
High Court in Kano, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court,
among others, in the battle for the soul of the party.

Some three weeks ago, the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) warned that except the leadership of both the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the National Judicial Council
(NJC) intervened, the seemingly endless and conflicting court
orders over political parties’ affairs could jeopardise
preparations for the 2023 general election.

INEC, which lamented the level of distraction the commission had
begun to face as a result of litigations arising from the Anambra
State governorship primary elections, however, restated its
commitment to the use of technology in conducting elections,
because it was the only way to credible and transparent polls.

While maintaining that new and conflicting court orders from all
parts of the country kept flooding its headquarters on a daily
basis, the commission said it was not only frustrating but also
causing it to keep recognising one candidate over the other, and
changing same again in the major political parties.

National Commissioner for Voter Education, Festus Okoye, who
hinted at the concerns in Awka, Anambra State, said, “This
(litigations) is frustrating. What the commission does in terms of
obedience to court orders is that if a judgment comes today, the
commission obeys the order, because it is the latest in time.

“If on the same issue, another court of coordinate jurisdiction,
or from a court of another judicial division comes to us, because
that one is the latest in time, the commission obeys that one.

“So, what the political parties have been doing, and what they
are doing is that they anticipate the commission, and the moment
you’re proceeding, they get court orders. This is impeding our
performance and making things difficult.

“Elections require sanctity and adherence to guidelines, the
leadership of the NBA and the NJC should look at this. This is
urgent and imperative, because if it persists, this can jeopardise
the conduct of the 2023 general election. We are having court
orders on a daily basis from courts in all parts of the country and
that is not right.”

Although sections of the country’s constitution and the
Electoral Act allow the judiciary, (courts and election tribunals)
to intervene particularly, when issues of non-compliance,
manipulation, violence etc are alleged to mar the process of
electing a particular representative, however, recent developments
seems to portray the fact that these days, the judges rather than
the people choose the leaders.

A peculiar case in recent times is that of a South Eastern State
where the governor was referred to as the “Supreme Court” governor,
simply because he was declared winner of the 2019 governorship
election, after coming a distant fourth in the poll.

The intervention of the courts whether at pre-election cases or
election petitions are taking a worrisome dimension as their
judgments to most aggrieved parties and even the people seem to be
far from justice, particularly, when such courts or judges lacked
the necessary jurisdiction in the first place to hear the case
brought before them.

The situation, was so bad that sometime last year, former Chief
Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice
Ishaq Bello had to issue a practice directive warning justice
against delving into cases outside their jurisdiction as well as
issuing all sorts of retraining orders in election matters.

But it seems the warning may have fallen on deaf ears as the
situation rather than abating is getting worse. Only recently, a
Justice of the Court of Appeal, Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, while
delivering judgment called for the punishment of a Jigawa State
High Court judge, Justice Ubale and his Imo State counterpart,
Justice B. C. Iheka over what she described as professional
misconduct by dabbling into the Anambra State gubernatorial
election controversy and gave consequential judgments on it.

Culled from ThisDay, Obinna Chima in Lagos and Alex Enumah in
Abuja