Tag: Supreme Court

Supreme Court victories: There are still challenges ahead, Buhari warns APC Governors

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated All Progressives Congress (APC) governors on their Supreme Court victories, after what he called “your patient legal battles to defend your mandates.”

The President’s congratulatory message was communicated through a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Friday.

The President said: ”I am pleased and proud that you have successfully concluded your legal battles.

” It is the time to concentrate fully on fulfilling your campaign promises after the distractions caused by the litigations.

”One of the great things about democracy is that it gives us avenues for redress through the courts.

“I am pleased that you used this opportunity to defend your mandates.”

He, however, advised the governors not to see their challengers as enemies because they were exercising their democratic rights by going to the courts to seek redress.

President Buhari then reminded the APC governors that “there are still challenges ahead,”.

He noted that with the legal battle now over, ”it is my hope that you won’t rest on your oars. You should work ever harder to deliver good governance in the next remaining four years of your tenure.

”I wish you God’s guidance, more wisdom and good health in the performance of your exalted responsibilities,” he said.

December 21, 2019
Imo poll: Supreme Court voids Uche Nwosu’s candidature

The Supreme Court on Friday, voided the candidature of Uche Nwosu as governorship flag bearer of the Action Alliance (AA) in the 2019 general elections in Imo, over double nomination.

The apex court, in its judgment delivered by Justice Adamu Augie, upheld the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the court had, about two months’ ago, upheld the decision of the Federal High Court which also voided Nwosu’s candidacy.

A chieftain of the Action Peoples Party (APP), Mr Uche Nnadi, had dragged Nwosu to the Federal High Court where the court held that he was not qualified to stand for the election.

The court based its verdict on the fact that Nwosu already had a valid ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Unsatisfied with the ruling of the Court, Nwosu approached the Court of Appeal to put the decision to further test.

The Court dismissed all issues raised by Nwosu in his appeal.

Not satisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeal, Nwosu headed to the apex court to upturn the decision of the lower court.

The Supreme Court, in its judgment, dismissed Nwosu’s appeal, saying that he could benefit from his iniquity.

The Court also dismissed the argument by Nwosu’s lawyer that the suit was statute barred.

Justice Augie said, ”The appellant cannot be allowed to benefit from his own iniquity.

“The action is not caught up by limitation of time.

“This case rest on the issue of illegality and this court cannot be used to enforce illegalities.

“This appeal is hereby dismissed.”

In his reaction shortly after the judgment was delivered, the Chairman of APC, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, said the implication was that all the votes given to Nwosu at that election were void votes.

December 20, 2019
Supreme Court upholds Abiodun, Udom, six other governors election

The Apex Court has upheld the re-election of Aminu Masari of Katsina State and Udom Emmanuel of Akwa-Ibom State and the elections of six other governors on Wednesday.

In the case of Katsina State, Justice Iyang Okoro, held that the appellant, Senator Garba Lado of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Masari did not qualify to participate in the election.

Similarly, the Supreme Court sealed the re-election of Udom Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Governor of Akwa-Ibom State.

In his ruling, Justice Datijp Muhammad held that the appeal by Mr Nsima Ekere of the All Progressives Congress (APC) lacked merit and is dismissed.

The six other governors whose elections were upheld are:

Dapo Abiodun (Ogun)

Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa)

David Umahi (Ebonyi)

Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos)

Seyi Makinde (Oyo)

Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna)

December 18, 2019
JUST IN: Supreme Court upholds Sanwo-Olu’s election as Lagos gov

Nigeria’s apex court has unanimously endorsed the election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the Governor of Lagos State in the last gubernatorial election in the state.

The seven-member panel of the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that Sanwo-Olu was duly elected as governor of Lagos.

Supreme Court’s judgment was delivered on Wednesday by Justice Paul Galinje.

According to Galinje, the reliefs sought by the appellant did not fall within the ambit of the schedule of the electoral act.

He said the prayers sort before the court in an election matter were jurisdictional and must fall within the reliefs allowed by the law in section 138 of the electoral act.

Sanwo-Olu, through his Counsel, Victor Opara had approached the apex court to upturn the order of the Appeal Court to resume hearing in the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Lagos State.

Chief Owolabi Salis, the governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy and his Labour Party counterpart, Ifagbemi Awamaridi had prayed the apex court to dismiss the appeal filed by the appellant and uphold the decision of the Appeal Court.

A five-man appellate court panel had held that the tribunal was wrong to have discontinued hearing on the basis that the AD and its governorship candidate, Salis had abandoned their petition.

“The case is to be remitted to the lower court for expeditious hearing of the matter,” the court held.

Similarly, it overturned the decision of the tribunal dismissing the petition filed by Ifagbemi Awamaridi, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party.

The appellate court ordered the return of the petition to the tribunal for expeditious determination.

The Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, had in June dismissed a petition filed by the AD and LP parties challenging the victory of Sanwo-Olu at the March 9 election.

December 18, 2019
BREAKING: Supreme Court affirms Makinde’s election as Oyo governor

The Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the election of Seyi Makinde as governor of Oyo State.

In a unanimous judgment, the Apex Court found merit in the appeal filed by Mr Makinde that the majority judgment of the Appeal Court was a miscarriage of justice.

More details later…

December 18, 2019
No room for appointment of Supreme Court Justices from bar – CJN

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Mohammad, has foreclosed the possibility of appointing Justices for the Supreme Court from among practising lawyers.

Although Justice Mohammed said there is a lot of pressure and calls for a review of the current appointment process that gives priority to career judges and Justices, the CJN insisted that he was not ready to yield ground on the matter.

He argued that those campaigning for the appointment of judges to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court from the Bar were not considering the drawbacks inherent in such move.

Mohammad spoke in Abuja at this year’s edition of the annual conference of the Justices of the Court of Appeal.

“I wouldn’t want to say much on the process of selecting Justices from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. But one thing on which I am positively assuring you, although there is a lot of pressure, is that we will retain the old regime.

“Those of us who passed through the Court of Appeal spent a number of years in the Court of Appeal, and we had a lot of experience and created a lot of relationship in the Court of Appeal. We will feel slighted if we are made to take anybody straight from outside.

“I don’t know. There is a lot of calls, a lot of insistence that we should take a look at the process we currently use in appointment to the Supreme Court and that we should not concentrate on the Court of Appeal alone. I say no.

“But, may be it is because I am biased; because I am a son of the Court of Appeal, and I know the number of years that I spent in the Court of Appeal. And I know the experiences I gathered in the Court of Appeal. I know the number of Justices that I met and made friends with in the Court of Appeal, and we still telephone each other till today,” Mohammad said.

The CJN said he was not, by his position, denigrating practising lawyers, but that it would be an act of injustice against career judges and Justices who have committed years to the Bench and have no other options, like practising lawyers have.

“This is somebody who has followed through the line. For example, myself. I started as a Magistrate Grade II. Going down the ladder, I wouldn’t want the authority to forget those of us who have been around.

“You grew up from the magistracy, rising through the ranks, and then they say we are not taking candidates for the Supreme Court from the Court of Appeal; we are taking from among the practising lawyer.

“We are not denigrating the practising lawyers. That is why I said let’s call a spade a spade.

“A practising lawyer may have a lot of openings. Tell me: what are your openings? What is the way forward for you? Please, let’s put our heads together. Don’t entertain that kind of thing.

“As far as I am concerned, the Supreme Court is the last stage. Anyone of us who grew up with the system and has continued to grow, why stagnate him? We know that it is not everyone of us will get to the Supreme Court. That is destiny.

“If somebody is brought from outside, it will take time to train such a person to fit in. I am with the old regime that we should train those who are already on the line.

“If you want to be a judge, you should join at the High Court; most of them do not want to join at the High Court. That is the best place for you to start.

“I don’t think it will be the right thing to appoint somebody straight to the Court of Appeal, because you have to train and teach him/her.

“Let me pose this question: supposing you retire now; or, God forbid, something happens and they retire you compulsorily, or you are even dismissed. Nobody is praying for that. But, assuming any of them happens, can you go into practice?” he queried.

The gathering responded by shouting no.

Mohammad’s position is a clear departure from the reported plan under his immediate predecessor for the appointment of some Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), who were rumoured to have been interviewed and shot-listed.

The Supreme Court currently has about 14 Justices, following the retirement of Justice Kumai Aka’ahs on December 12, 2019.

Earlier in the year, Justice Walter Onnoghen (who was then the CJN) resigned after he was convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for breaching the code of conduct for public officers.

Shortly after Mohammad became the CJN, Justice Sidi Dauga Baga resigned to become the Emir of Lafia in Nasarawa State.

At the end of its meeting on October 23, 2019, the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended the appointment of four Justices for the Supreme Court from among those serving at the Court of Appeal.

They are: Justices Adamu Jauro (Northeast), Emmanuel Agim (Southsouth), C. Oseji (Southeast) and Helen Ogunwumiju (Southwest.

Earlier at the conference on December 12, President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, stressed that this year’s edition was her last, because she will retire before the next edition.

Bulkachuwa spoke on the essence of an effective court system for sustenance of any democratic society, adding: “Court administration is a subject of vital importance, not only to those engaged in the task of administering justice, but also to the broader community.

“It is difficult to imagine a society or community which is not dependent upon the rule of law for its development and prosperity.

“Judicial values are crucial for the proper working of the judicial system in a democratic society and for adequate service delivery for the citizens who are seeking justice.”

December 16, 2019
Accept judgement in good fate, work with Buhari, Okorocha urges Atiku

Immediate past governor of Imo State and Senator representing Imo West, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has enjoined the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar to accept the Supreme Court judgment in good fate and “join hands with his brother to move the country forward”.

Okorocha in a statement issued by his Special Adviser in Media, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, shortly after the judgment, said that the Presidential Petition Tribunal and the Supreme Court only authenticated President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory, adding that available statistics proved that he won the presidential election in the first place.

He, however, saluted Atiku for challenging the outcome of the election to a logical conclusion, adding that his action will help to strengthen the nation’s democracy.

According to the statement, “President Buhari won his election looking at the statistics of that poll but the Presidential Tribunal and the Supreme Court only authenticated the victory.

“But what Atiku did was also good for our democracy, it helps to strengthen our democracy but I urge that he now joins hands with his brother, the President to move the nation forward”.

Also lauding the Supreme Court ruling, member representing Ohaji-Egbema-Oguta-Oru West Federal Constituency, Hon Kingsley Uju, said that the Supreme Court has performed its constitutional responsibility by affirming the winner of the election based on evidences available to it.

Congratulating the President, he tasked Atiku to join hands with the winner of the election in the interest of the nation.

The Lawmaker, however, decried the huge resources and time wasted in post-election struggles, adding that litigations constitute huge distractions to people elected into public offices.

He said, “as parliamentarians, we are going to be looking into the Electoral Act to make the institutions of INEC to function well because once elections are free and fair, it will go a long way to reduce post election litigations”.

October 30, 2019
Supreme Court verdict: Judiciary sabotaged by dictatorial cabal – Atiku

Nigeria’s former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the last election, Atiku Abubakar has reacted to the Supreme Court’s judgement which nullified his appeal against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the judiciary has been sabotaged and undermined by an overreaching and dictatorial cabal.

The Supreme Court had in an unanimous judgement on Wednesday affirmed that Buhari was validly elected as Nigerian President in the 23 February presidential election.

A seven man panel of the court, headed by Justice Tanko Ibrahim Mohammed, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, also dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the victory of Buhari at the presidential election.

Atiku, in a statement after the court’s judgment stated that “it is said that the Supreme Court is not final because it is infallible, but that it is infallible because it is final. While I believe that only God is infallible everywhere, and only Nigerians are infallible in our democracy, I must accept that the judicial route I chose to take, as a democrat, has come to a conclusion.

“Whether justice was done, is left to the Nigerian people to decide. As a democrat, I fought a good fight for the Nigerian people. I will keep on fighting for Nigeria and for democracy, and also for justice.”

He thanked all Nigerians who had stayed the course since the commencement of trial in the petition on the February 23 presidential election, saying that the judgement was part of democratic challenges “we must face as a nation.”

“The Nigerian judiciary, just like every estate of our realm, has been sabotaged and undermined by an overreaching and dictatorial cabal, who have undone almost all the democratic progress the Peoples Democratic Party and its administrations nurtured for sixteen years, up until 2015.

“Can Nigeria continue like this? Recently, former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, averred that Nigeria had rolled back the democratic gains she made in 2015. When democracy is rolled back, the economy, the society and the judiciary will not be far behind. Today, the nail has been put on the coffin and the gains we collectively made since 1999 are evaporating, and a requiem is at hand.

“In a democracy, you need a strong judiciary, a free press and an impartial electoral umpire. Nigeria has none of those three elements as at today,” he said.

Atiku added: “One man, one woman, one youth, one vote, should be the only way to make gains in a democracy. And when that is thwarted, the clock starts to tick.

“Two and a half millennia ago, Sophocles said “If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: “Thou shalt not ration justice.” Nigeria will do well to observe this warning.”

The former vice president said to those who thought they had broken his spirit, he was sorry to disappoint them, as he was too focused on Nigeria to think about himself, adding that he gave up that luxury twenty years ago, saying that “the question is not if I am broken. The question is if Nigeria is whole?”

According to him, “This is not a time for too many words. It will suffice for me to remind Nigeria of this – we are an independent nation and we are the architects of our fate. If we do not build a free Nigeria, we may end up destroying her, and God forbid that that should be the case.I was a democrat, I am a democrat, and I will always continue to be a democrat. May God bless Nigeria.”

October 30, 2019
BREAKING: 2019 poll dispute: Atiku, PDP suffer first defeat at Supreme Court hearing

– Court takes 20-minute break over Atiku’s appeal
By Emmanuel Bagudu

The first ruling delivered by the Supreme Court on the presidential election appeal has gone against the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate in the 2019 Election, Atiku Abubakar.

The Apex Court began hearing on the appeal filed by PDP and Atiku challenging the election of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The seven-man panel of the court headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, in the lead ruling consented to by other members, overruled Atiku’s request that their seven interlocutory appeals be heard after the main one must have been argued.

The seven-man panel held that it would be unnecessary to hear the interlocutory appeals when a judgment on the main appeal marked SC.1211/2019 would cover the field.

Other members of the panel are Justices Bode Rhodes-Vivour, Kayode Ariwoola, John Okoro, Amiru Sanusi, Ejembi Eko and Uwani Abba-Ajji.

Meanwhile, after taking briefs from the counsel, the CJN led 7 man panel went for a close door deliberation.

“the court may rise and reconstitute,” CJN Mohammed said. It is expected that by the time the court reconstitute, a date for Judgement will be announced

October 30, 2019
‘2019 poll: APC cannot escape justice at Supreme Court tomorrow’

The Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday said there is no way the All Progressives Congress will escape justice at the Supreme Court, given the perceived weight of evidence proving that its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, won the February 29 presidential election.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan cautioned the APC and supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari to desist from their allegations against the PDP and Atiku.

He said such allegations can never sway the Supreme Court to alter the course of justice in the matter.

He said, “The APC, being discomfited by the weight of evidence against it and President Buhari, has resorted to cooked-up stories, inventions and threats, in a bid to smokescreen its machinations against the Supreme Court; all characteristics of individuals desperate to distract the court.

“The PDP has built a solid case at the Supreme Court. It stands with Nigerians across the country in believing that justice will prevail. On the other hand, the APC, seeing that it has no hope, has been devising all manner of shenanigans to overheat the system so as to create the ground to derail the course of justice.

“Nigerians are aware of how chaotic the APC has been since the PDP and Atiku Abubakar succeeded in assembling our indisputable evidence before the Supreme Court, including the clear miscarriage of justice in the judgment of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, which even the tribunal admitted was full of errors.”

He added, “Nigerians are also aware how the APC plots to frustrate and irritate the Supreme Court by filing a cross-appeal seeking to direct the apex court on what to do with the critically flawed judgment of the tribunal.

“Unfortunately for the APC and the Buhari Presidency, all the flaws in the judgment of the tribunal are bare before Nigerians; they are now before the Supreme Court and the APC cannot escape justice.

“The PDP, therefore, refuses to be drawn into a dance in the mud with the unsettled APC.”

October 29, 2019