The leadership crisis rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is set to end, as the National Judicial Council, NJC, has confirmed that it is probing the various conflicting judgments, on who is the authentic National Chairman of the party, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Mahmud Mohammed, has confirmed.
Justice Mohammed, stated that instances where lower courts of coordinate jurisdiction render conflicting judgments on similar cases, and at some instances, ignore established precedents, were harmful to the integrity and reputation of the Judiciary. The CJN, added that judges found wanting, would be punished.
Justice Mohammed, spoke in Abuja at a special court session, marking the opening of the Supreme Court’s 2016/2017 legal year, and the swearing-in of new Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN).
The CJN said: “It is with great trepidation and dismay, that I note the growing trend of the disregard for laid down precedents in decisions from various levels of courts, even the appellate court.“I am of the firm conviction, that every court in Nigeria is bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court, and shall not graft a different outcome from those expressly laid down by the Supreme Court.“Such departures from precedents, therefore, risk creating the type of confusion, which is inimical to the trust reposed in us by the people, and we risk our reputation, our integrity, and even our existence, by such indiscipline.“Several conflicting decisions were recklessly dished out by the Court of Appeal last year, in appeals arising from various decisions of the Election Petitions Tribunals, given on election petitions filed by the parties who lost in the general elections conducted in April, 2015.
“Such decisions were made as the result of flagrant refusal of the panels of the Court of Appeal involved to be bound, not only by its own decisions, but also by the decisions of this Court.”“I therefore call on our judicial officers, to have due respect for the law, and strive to adjudicate in a manner that is premised upon the principles of Justice. Little wonder therefore, that people are now increasingly looking at Alternative Dispute Resolution, in order to engender more certainty to the resolution of their disputes,” the CJN said.
Aside the various conflicting judgments handed out by the various divisions of the Court of Appeal in the post-2015 election cases, the Federal High Court, and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, have recently, given some judgments that appeared conflicting and confusing.
Two of such, are the various decisions given so far in relation to the leadership crisis in the PDP, and the Governorship dispute in Abia State.
While Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has consistently held that the Ali Modu-Sheriff-led Executive Council of the PDP was the authentic body to take decisions on its behalf, Justice Ibrahim Watila of the Federal High Court, Port-Harcourt, has on the other hand, upheld the leadership of the Ahmed Makarfi-led Committee.
Recall also, that Justice Nwamaka Ogbonna of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Kubwa, added a twist to the PDP leadership crisis, when in a judgment on August 17, he restrained Sheriff from further parading himself as the Chairman of the party.
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