By J. S. Okutepa, SAN
In any nation where the rule of law holds sway, judges must be independent.They must not be seen to be partisan or allow themselves to be used to achieve a predetermined partnership political position.
Judicial independence therefore is the foundation of a fair and impartial system of justice, to ensuring that judges can make lawful decisions without external influence or pressure.This means judges should be free to decide cases based on facts, individual merits, and legal arguments, without fear of retaliation or pressure from the government, powerful parties and they must adhere to authoritative binding judicial precedents.
On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered a landmark judgment affirming the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Councils in Nigeria.The seven-member panel, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, JSC, granted the reliefs sought in the suit brought by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the office of the Hon Attorney-General of the Federation which suit was aimed at reinforcing the independence of local governments across the country.
Parts of the facts of the case were that it is unconstitutional and undemocratic to have caretaker committees for any of the 774 local governments in Nigeria. Section 1 of the 1999 constitution makes the constitution supreme and has binding forces of all persons and authorities, including all Nigerian courts.
Section 287 [1] of the 1999 constitution says that the decisions of the Supreme Court of Nigeria shall be enforced in any part of Nigeria by all persons and authorities and by courts with subordinate jurisdiction to that of the Supreme Court. Judgements of the Supreme Court, whether rightly or wrongly decided, can not be questioned or ignored by all courts and persons in Nigeria. It can only be criticised.
Based on this, therefore, it should worry reasonable Nigerians that despite the judgement of the Supreme Court of 11th July 2024, some Nigerian judges are still issuing orders restraining INEC from giving out electoral materials or documents to the States’ Independent Electoral Commission to conduct local government elections. These are materials that are necessary for the conduct of democratic processes in the local governments. Yet judicial officer will order that it be not given.
It is sad that some Nigerian political actors are hell-bent in abusing judicial processes to satisfy their selfish personal interests. It is even more worrisome that some members of the legal profession will also agree to engage in filing processes that have the potential to undermine the judgment of the Supreme Court on the legal government autonomy and democratic governments in that branch of government.
The manner in which orders are flying from one court to the other are not in my view healthy for good governance and economic development of this country. Reasonable members of international communities are watching us as a nation where judicial processes can be used for selfish interests even when the processes are down outright frivolous and scuttling of good governance.
The Hon the Chief Justice of Nigeria and leadership of the legal profession must do something and urgently too to save the legal profession, the judiciary, and our democracy from the ridiculous orders from some of our courts. It is sad, to say the least, to see and read of the kind of orders coming out of some of our courts which orders are clearly in sabotage of democratic processes and the judgment of the Supreme Court. These should not be allowed to continue unchecked and unpunished.
