Exactly three (3) weeks ago, that is, Sunday May 11, 2025, this column predicted that “Nigeria’s judiciary was set to rescue itself.” The article made several fundamental points. First, that Chief Justice Kudirat Kekere Ekun had chosen to depart from the course of timidity to which her predecessors had put themselves. Oh yes; rather than following the subsisting strategy of circumlocution, Kekere-Ekun led the National Judicial Council to sanction judges that had been engaged in judicial misconduct. Second, that certain Kano cases which had recently turned the spotlight on the judiciary needed to be urgently concluded. It was as if the Court of Appeal in Abuja had us in mind when some 48 hours ago, it did the needful by throwing judicial rascality under the bus in Kano – a development that has reverberated nationwide!

According to media reports, the Court of Appeal reversed the October 22, 2024 judgment given by a Federal High Court in Kano voiding the composition of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KASIEC) and the local government election it conducted on October 26, 2024. In three unanimous judgments, a three-member panel, presided over by Justice Biobele Abraham Georgewill, held that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain cases bordering on the composition of states’ electoral bodies and the qualification of members of such bodies.The Appeal Court Justices were convinced that the primary claims of the plaintiffs at the Federal High Court, were outside the jurisdictional competence of the said Court. Indeed, it was held that the same Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to interpret Section 4 of the KANSIEC Law 2001 as it did.

A major gain from the ruling of the Appeal Court is its capacity to put an end to political lawlessness in Nigeria. To start with, our political class has been behaving as if the federal high courts were established to help federal politicians destabilize state politicians especially in states where the ruling party is different from the ruling party at the federal level. Before now, state governors were perceived to be manipulating the state high courts as most cases there were usually resolved in the favour of state governments. Perhaps that explains why their federal counterparts quickly took control of the federal high courts and started to divert cases there. This played out quite well last year in Kano state where the state and federal high courts gave conflicting rulings on the same case; thus, creating two Emirs for the historic city to the embarrassment of the nation.

One can only hope that a quick resolution of any such conflict is immediately followed by a prompt sanctioning of the offending courtso as to prevent a continuation of the embarrassment. The old idea that it is in order for cases in court to be allowed to drag on through unnecessary adjournments has only institutionalized the bad stance. If that approach is halted quickly, many litigants especially politicians would be stopped from congesting our courts with mundane issues. The judiciary needs to be consistent with its rulings in order to help the nation get proper political parties. As at today, many administrative functions of political parties are performed on their behalf by some judges. Why will a political party that has been unable to perform the functions provided for by its own constitution be allowed to bring issues arising from such negligence before the judiciary?

The Nigerian experience has been one in which politicians that have held no party congresses or conventions for years are seen fighting over party offices with claims and counter claims filed in different courts. The way forward is to shut down such political party cases which are purely on management issues that are internal to the parties concerned.It is heartwarming that the Supreme Court recently placed a hammer on cases which concern purely internal matters that political party organs are mandated to handle. Therefore, no court should continue to entertain cases by persons such as the case of the Labour Party where those fighting for offices are relying on tenures that have long expired.The judiciary should similarly bar all courts from directing electoral commissions to accept or reject factions of political parties.

One of the greatest problems facing Nigeria today is political impunity in which certain well-placed individuals are allowed to do and undo. The judiciary is the arm of government that is best positioned to resolve the problem from which it should no longer abdicate. The moment a political party or its organ or indeed any organ of government takes the law into its hands, the judiciary should promptly halt it. We cannot justify our system which prioritizes political matters such as election petitions while at the same time treating other political matters differently. It is the fact that other political matters are allowed to drag for so long that all our courts are brazenly congested. As soon as it becomes obvious that political matters are expeditiously handled, those who use courts to sustain their illegal positions will lose their hitherto lucrative market.

The judiciary can also save itself from further embarrassments if it puts its house in order. A major advantage to that arm of government from the latest Appeal Court ruling is that the bad eggs in the system are now being unveiled and are getting quite visible. The NJC must not allow them in the system through the process of looking for soft landing. Many Nigerians fondly remember Justices Mohammed Bello, Kayode Eso, Lawal Uwais, Otutu Obaseki, Chukwudifu Oputa, Adolphus Karibi Whyte etc for their courage and meritorious performances. Many more judges will sooner or later become as famous if we do not return to the lethargy of the immediate past. Accordingly, Nigerians may soon begin to get familiarized with erudite Justices such as Biobele Abraham Georgewill, Abubakar Mahmud Talba and Oyejoju Oyebiola Oyewumi of the Court of Appeal who stood firm last week. 

If the judiciary remains upright, irritating episodes such as the executive and legislative arms colluding to remove state chief judges they are unable to manipulate will not only stop, judges will suddenly return to their well-respected positions. But if the bad eggs remain protected, many more wrong hands will be brought in to supersede the righteous. Once such misfits are allowed to lead, the story of the Nigerian judiciary will remain that of an arm of government whose allocations are being used by others to build houses and procure vehicles for the “orphan-judges.” There is therefore no better time than now for the judiciary to maintain a positive shine on judges with integrity especially those that are overworked using analogue facilities. At the same time, there should be no hiding place for the bad eggs in the system who are not only few but who have for long sustained a bad reputation for the entire judiciary.  

This article must also necessarily draw attention to the numerous issues that are still being swept under the carpet in Nigeria. The Kano local election matters like all other political issues have their other sides. Whether at state or federal levels, we are all aware that we run a system which pretends to be unaware of several partisan electoral referees that are wrongly embedded in our so called independent electoral commissions. Such unacceptable compositions ought to be rejected by the courts but such courts must not be those with defective jurisdictions that are designed to be fault-finding. The best way the judiciary can be of help hereis to part ways with its friends and relations in the political parties that are used to throw mud on the judiciary.

We honestly look forward to when our courts will courageously stop electoral malpractices and assist the nation to always do what is right, fair and just in our leadership recruitment process.The judiciary must stop helping to assist politicians and INEC to cover up poorly conducted elections. In 2007, former President Umaru Yar’Adua who was declared winner of the presidential election of that year testified that the election was bad but some judges in our highest court still gave victory to Yar’Adua thereby crying more than the bereaved. If some such old cases have put on us an indelible negative tar, the Supreme Court which is allowed to reverse itself can clean the ‘Augean’ stable by reversing some of its decisions. Such a patriotic posture will get as much bravo as we extend today to the Court of Appeal that has chosen to hold the bull by its horn.