'Landmark Verdicts of 2007' By Foluso Ogunmodede and Edo Ugbagwu

LANDMARK VERDICTS OF 2007


ALTHOUGH all hopes of a vibrant democracy seemed lost and the organs of the government partially collapsed, the outgoing year could not be wished away in the annals of Nigeria’s democratic system without a thought for the enduring roles played by the judiciary.
The judiciary, no doubt, gave hope when anarchy seemed imminent, especially when the rule of law was abused, when court orders were spurned and when other illegalities took place.
There was palpable confusion just as some forms of illegalities were the order of the day.
The executive arm of the government literally hijacked other arms in a bizarre manner as President Olusegun Obasanjo, as he then was, with support from other security outfits, brushed aside court orders and adopted illegalities as a measure of governance.
The rule of law almost collapsed. There were palpable fears that abnormalities had taken over, especially as the legislature became an appendage of the executive arm, dancing as it were to the tunes of the Presidency.
This apparently became intense when Obasanjo allegedly sought to elongate his tenure, a project funded by the Presidency.
The "Third-term" project enjoyed the tacit support of the National Assembly such that the constitutional provisions were thrown into the waste paper can. The legislature lost its voice until a group within the legislature came to its rescue.
The group, comprising some Senators and members of the House of Representatives, fought the "Third-term" to a standstill with civil society groups and others, the project was dismantled.
Undaunted, the Presidency declared the office of the Vice-President vacant without recourse to the rule of law as required by the 1999 Constitution.
President Obasanjo had accused his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of abandoning his duties, switched camps to the Action Congress (AC), a political party and major opposition party.
He said Alhaji Atiku’s defection made his continued stay in the PDP and the government illegal and ultra vires.
This, however, threw the nation into another political turmoil as Nigerians – lawyers and the civil society groups – rose in defence of the rule of law.
While this was on-going, Vice-President Abubakar, as he then was, headed for the courts.
Although the judiciary seen as the hope of the nation at its trying moments did not shirk away from its responsibilities, there was nothing to suggest that it would embark on a judicial revolutionary.
The judiciary emasculated by successive military administrations since 1966 however, in a series of landmark judgments, opposed the Obasanjo administration.
This year alone, there were no fewer than 25 judgments against the Obasanjo-led administration.
In the judgments, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), headed by Professor Maurice Iwu, was not spared. The agency’s decisions to bar some aspirants from contesting political offices were upturned by the courts.
Prominent of such landmark judgments was the Supreme Court decision that INEC was not constitutionally empowered to disqualify any candidate from vying elective offices.
Vice-President Abubakar had initiated the suit at the High Court until the apex court’s decision.
Here are some of the landmark judgments in chronological order:
April 3:
The Court of Appeal in Abuja ruled that INEC could disqualify candidates from contesting elections.
Justice Umaru Abdullahi, who wrote the lead judgment, upturned the judgment of Justice Babs Kuewunmi of a Federal High Court in Abuja who declared that INEC is not constitutionally empowered to disqualify any candidate standing for election.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who brought the action, immediately rejected the verdict and headed for the Court of Appeal.
Justice Tijani Abubakar, ruling in a suit filed by the former Vice-President against INEC over the exclusion of his name from the list of Presidential candidates, ordered the electoral body to restore his name on the list of candidates for the April 21 election.
He (Justice Abubakar) dismissed the objection filed by INEC through its lawyer, Chief Joe Gadzama (SAN), against the suit instituted by the former Vice-President.
April 4:
Lawyers said there was no contradiction whatsoever in the judgment of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in the matter involving former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president, Chief Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) said instead of contradicting each other, the verdicts are indeed complementary.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday ruled that INEC could disqualify candidates from contesting elections.
But a Federal High Court also in Abuja said INEC could not disqualify Alhaji Atiku Abubakar based on the report of an administrative panel of inquiry which indicted him.
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Rose Ukeje threw out the suit filed by former Oyo State Governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja against INEC over the completion of his tenure.
Justice Ukeje said the Constitution does not confer any right on Ladoja to come before the court to ask for tenure completion.
Ladoja, sought to complete his tenure in office which was interrupted by his impeachment that was later voided by the Supreme Court.
Justice Ukeje said Section 181 of the Constitution provided a four-year term for a governor in office but added that the period of interruption is not provided for in the 1999 Constitution.
April 5:
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar again secured another victory in his legal battle against the Federal Government, when the Court of Appeal in Abuja held that the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has no powers or jurisdiction to hear and determine allegations of contravention of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act against him while his tenure subsists.
The Supreme Court struck out the suit filed by Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State against the Federal Government challenging INEC’s powers to conduct election in the state.
Justice Niki Tobi dismissed the suit because there was no dispute between the Federal and the Anambra State governments on Obi’s tenure. Governor Obi sued the Federal Government at the apex court over his tenure.
He said in the suit that he took the oath of office and that of allegiance on March 17, 2006.
The governor averred that by virtue of Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution, he is entitled to four uninterrupted years in office as governor.
He asked the court to declare that any governorship election conducted by INEC in the state should be declared illegal, null and void and unconstitutional.
April 11:
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Rose Ukeje ordered INEC to go ahead with the April 14 and 21 polls as scheduled.
The judgment was delivered in the case between the Federal Government and INEC over calls by some Nigerians for a shift in the date of the polls due to the death of Chief Adebayo Adefarati, Alliance for Democracy (AD) presidential candidate. The court said the death of one of the presidential candidates was not enough reason to shift the election.
April 17:
The hallowed temple of justice was desecrated by soldiers who stormed the Ekiti State Judiciary complex, apparently to prevent the hearing of a suit filed by the impeached Deputy Governor, Mrs Biodun Olujimi.
The serenity of the high court and the Fajuyi area was shattered at about 8.00 a.m. when soldiers, wielding AK-47 rifles, stormed the complex and chased away officials, litigants and lawyers. They thereafter put the complex under lock and keys.
April 18:
A High Court in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, ordered the reconstitution of the state Council of Obas and Chiefs.
Its order came some four years after Governor Ladoja dissolved, reconstituted and reclassified the Council headed by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi.
April 19:
The Federal High Court, Akure ordered the Commanding Officer (CO) of the 19th Battalion, Nigerian Army in Okitipupa, Ondo State to produce a Labour Party (LP) chieftain, Mr Aderemi Olatunbora in court.
Olatunbora, Chairman of the Publicity Committee of LP, was arrested by soldiers in Irele Local Government during the governorship and House of Assembly elections.
April 23:
The Supreme Court declared that President Obasanjo had no power to declare the office of his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar vacant.
It was the second judgment in a week by the apex court on the number two citizen.
Justice Olufemi Akintan said: "It is only through the National Assembly that the Vice-President can be removed from office".
President Obasanjo had in December declared Atiku’s office vacant after the Vice-President dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Action Congress (AC).
An Ilorin Magistrate’s Court remanded the Kwara State chairman of the Action Congress (AC), Prince Sunday Fagbemi and the party’s secretary, Alhaji Bolaji Edun in prison.
The duo were alleged to have attempted to bomb the residence of the state’s Electoral Commissioner and a filling station owned by a government official prior to the election.
May 1:
Plateau State Acting Chief Judge (CJ), Mr Justice Lazarus Dakyen was fired. He was replaced by former CJ, Mr Justice Sambo Atsi, who was sacked in 2004.
Justice Atsi had sued the government over his unceremonious removal.
Following an out-of-court settlement, Mr Justice Atsi was reinstated.
May 4:
A desperate bid by Lagos State Deputy Governor Otunba Olufemi Pedro to halt impeachment proceedings initiated by the House of Assembly against him failed at an Ikeja High Court.
Instead, the court ordered an accelerated hearing into the suit which Pedro brought against the lawmakers in which he was challenging an alleged infraction of Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution.
He consequently lost his job as the impeachment process succeeded.
May 8:
The Supreme Court struck out a preliminary objection filed by the INEC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against an application by the then Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Chief Rotimi Amaechi.
The application sought leave of the court for Amaechi to appeal the party’s substitution of his name as its governorship candidate in the April 14 election.
Amaechi was challenging the constitutionality of the substitution of his name by the PDP with that of Sir Celestine Omehia.
May 18:
Activities in the judiciary was paralysed as a result of a boycott of courts by lawyers. The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) called for the boycott to protest the April general elections.
May 22:
The Court of Appeal in Enugu disallowed the appeal filed by Anambra State Governor, Mr Peter Obi against the dismissal by the Federal High Court of his plea, for the determination of his tenure.
The court said it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
July 13:
Three former governors – Alhaji Ibrahim Saminu Turaki of Jigawa State, Chief Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Dr Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State – were charged before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged laundering of more than N40 billion belonging to their states.
Another former governor Rev Jolly Nyame of Taraba State was also arraigned before Justice Abimbola Banjoko of the Abuja High Court on corruption charges.
July 20:
The Court of Appeal voided the pay of salaries of two former ministers in dollars under the administration of President Obasanjo.
It described such payment as illegal and ordered the ministers – Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Chief Olu Adeniji to refund N205,647,320. The court said the payment in foreign currency violated certain public and judicial office holders (Salaries and Allowances) Act No 6 of 2002.
July 26:
Former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Solomon Alamieyeseigha, was convicted and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for corruption. His conviction was handed down by Mr Justice Mohammed Shuaibu of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
October 25:
The Supreme Court ordered Rivers State Governor, Sir Celestine Omehia to "immediately" vacate the Government House, Port-Harcourt for Hon Rotimi Amaechi.
A panel comprising seven justices of the court ordered Amaechi, former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly to be immediately sworn-in as the governor.
It argued that since Amaechi won the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primaries, he must not be denied the right to occupy the Government House as governor.


CULLED FROM 'THE NATION', DECEMBER 31 2007