Ahmad Lawan Judgement: Supreme Court angry over attacks on judges, warns critics
The Supreme Court has reacted in anger to the attacks its judges have suffered following its judgement affirming the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North senatorial district.
“Our silence must not be mistaken for weakness or cowardice,” the court warned in a statement by its Director of Press and Information, Festus Akande, on Saturday.
Accusing the critics of serving some vested political interests, the court warned that its judges “are not politicians and should not, by any stroke of imagination, be cast in that mould either”.
In the statement that doubled down on the propriety of the Supreme Court’s widely criticised judgement, the court singled out a renowned columnist and professor at Kennesaw State University in the United States, Farouk Kperogi, saying his criticisms were as dictated to him by his paymasters.
The court said insinuations that its justices were bought over “by some unknown and unseen persons” was nothing short of “a bizarre expression of ignorance”.
It called Mr Kperogi’s reaction to the court’s decision as “ineptly scripted toxic article”.
It added that the scholar “decided to plunge into an abysmal pit of irredeemable ignorance by venting convoluted anger on Supreme Court Justices with a view to pleasing his paymasters.”
The statement also described the call by “a faceless group” for the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola, to resign as “prosaic”.
“It is so disheartening to learn that some individuals and groups of persons who ought to know better and even assume the revered positions of role models to a larger proportion of the citizens are now sadly, the very ones flagrantly displaying ignorance and infantilism in the course of defending the indefensible,” the statement stated.
While Nigerians have “inalienable right to express his or her opinion without any encumbrance”, the court said, in exercising such right, citizens” should be circumspect enough to observe the caution-gate of self-control in order not to infringe on another person’s right.”
The Supreme Court’s statement tallies with recent vow by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, that lawyers criticising the court’s decisions would face sanction.
Controversial verdict
The Supreme Court’s split decision affirming Mr Lawan as the candidate of the APC for the Yobe North senatorial district in the forthcoming general elections triggered a widespread outrage shortly after it was delivered on Monday.
The majority of three judges of the court’s panel of five had ruled in favour of Mr Lawan despite what the public believed to be his non-participation in the senatorial primary election.
As of the time the senatorial primary election for Yobe North senatorial district had been concluded, Mr Lawan was jostling for the presidential ticket of the APC which he eventually lost. Bashir Machina emerged as the winner of the senatorial primary election.
But the APC would later claim to have within 24 hours after the presidential primary contest organised another primary election won by Mr Lawan, a case the Supreme Court’s decision lent credence to.
Attacks
Many credible voices have criticised the judgements with Mike Igini, a former Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akwa Ibom State, saying it would kill internal party democracy.
Mr Kperogi, in a vitriolic attack contained in a statement he issued shortly after the judgement on Mr Lawan’s case was delivered, said the court’s judgement violated common sense and called it “a blatant case of justice for sale”.
“It’s a well-planned judicial choreography,” the professor of Journalism and Emerging Media said, and went on to describe the Supreme Court as one of the “most hopeless Supreme Court” in world history.
The scholar likened the decision to some other recent judgements of the court such as the one affirming Godswill Akpabio as the APC’s candidate for the Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial election and the one that installed Hope Uzodinma as the governor of Imo State in 2020.
This, according to him, showed that the Supreme Court was, “without a doubt, a rotten gaggle of useless, purchasable judicial bandits”. “The highest bidder gets their judgement.”
‘Verbal assailant’
Reacting to Mr Kperogi’s comments and similar attacks from various individuals and groups, the spokesperson for the court said the scholar was a pen-happy serial verbal assailant.
“Even in a state of emotional disequilibrium, we should be reasonable enough to make a good choice of decent words, as every word employed by the pen-happy Kperogi only succeeded in portraying the kind of vacuum that sign-posts all that he has as academic accomplishment.
“I believe those who possess similar credentials with him are obviously ashamed of celebrating any form of affinity with such a character that has an odious reputation for being a serial verbal assailant over the years, as he sees nothing good in anything good.
“He has only succeeded in inflicting upon himself a mood of bellicose jingoism which does not represent a mark of honour for any discerning mind or academic, the world over.”
Defending the Supreme Court, Mr Akande, the court’s spokesperson, said the judges’ decisions were always based on the facts brought before them.
“Courts don’t advertise or scout for cases for adjudication; but at the same time, we are duty-bound to adjudicate on all matters that come before us with a view to giving justice to whoever justice is due, irrespective of status.
“No Court in any clime is a Father Christmas; so, no one can get what he or she didn’t ask for. Similarly, all matters are thoroughly analysed and considered based on their merits and not the faces that appear in Court or sentiments that attempt to becloud the sense of reasoning.
“So, for anyone in his or her right frame of mind to insinuate that the Justices have been bought over by some unknown and unseen persons is, to say the least, a bizarre expression of ignorance, which definitely has no place in law or even in the realm of pedestrian reasoning.”
The court also pushed back the blame for its decisions to political parties that failed to conduct their affairs well. It vowed not to ever take decisions according to the dictates of vested interests.
“As at this moment, over 600 cases have so far gone to Court from just party primaries which were conducted by political parties without any encumbrance or interference from any external bodies,” the court’s statement said.
“If political parties fail to organise themselves well by managing their internal wrangling maturely and now chose to bring themselves to the Court, we are duty-bound to adjudicate in accordance with the provisions of the law and not the dictates of any individual or deity, as some people would want us to do.
“If political parties conduct themselves well and orderly too, the Courts would definitely handle less cases and the political atmosphere will be much healthier than it is currently.”
The court vowed to “continuously do our best to discharge our constitutional responsibility to keep the country together and move the nation along the path of peace, progress and development.”
“Attacks by groups, political parties or individuals under any guise will not deter us, rather it will boost our resolve to do more for the country.”
READ SUPREME COURT’S STATEMENT IN FULL
PRESS RELEASE
BE MINDFUL OF UNWARRANTED ATTACKS ON JUDICIAL OFFICERS
We have watched with utter dismay some unfortunate events that have been unfolding in the country, particularly within the political landscape, for some days now.
It is so disheartening to learn that some individuals and groups of persons who ought to know better and even assume the revered positions of role models to a larger proportion of the citizens are now sadly, the very ones flagrantly displaying ignorance and infantilism in the course of defending the indefensible.
In an ineptly scripted toxic article, one Farooq Adamu Kperogi, who described himself as a Nigerian-American Professor, decided to plunge into an abysmal pit of irredeemable ignorance by venting convoluted anger on Supreme Court Justices with a view to pleasing his paymasters.
We have made it abundantly clear at different occasions that Judicial Officers are neither political office holders nor politicians that should be dressed in such robes.
Our silence must not be mistaken for weakness or cowardice. Certainly, every Nigerian citizen has inalienable right to express his or her opinion without any encumbrance; but even in the course of expressing such fundamental right, we should be circumspect enough to observe the caution-gate of self-control in order not to infringe on another person’s right.
Even in a state of emotional disequilibrium, we should be reasonable enough to make a good choice of decent words, as every word employed by the pen-happy Kperogi only succeeded in portraying the kind of vacuum that sign-posts all that he has as academic accomplishment. I believe those who possess similar credentials with him are obviously ashamed of celebrating any form of affinity with such a character that has an odious reputation for being a serial verbal assailant over the years, as he sees nothing good in anything good. He has only succeeded in inflicting upon himself a mood of bellicose jingoism which does not represent a mark of honour for any discerning mind or academic, the world over.
Courts don’t advertise or scout for cases for adjudication; but at the same time, we are duty-bound to adjudicate on all matters that come before us with a view to giving justice to whoever justice is due, irrespective of status. No Court in any clime is a Father Christmas; so, no one can get what he or she didn’t ask for. Similarly, all matters are thoroughly analysed and considered based on their merits and not the faces that appear in Court or sentiments that attempt to becloud the sense of reasoning. So, for anyone in his or her right frame of mind to insinuate that the Justices have been bought over by some unknown and unseen persons is, to say the least, a bizarre expression of ignorance, which definitely has no place in law or even in the realm of pedestrian reasoning.
We are not surprised with the surge of these well-orchestrated verbal assaults on Judicial Officers across the country at this period of elections. It is a thing we are used to and are ever ready to absorb whatever comes our way; but there should be some level of decorum and dignity in what we say and do.
Politics should not be played without recourse to good conscience and acceptable moral conduct, as everything is evolving globally. Calling on the Chief Justice of Nigeria to resign or attacking Justices that sit on various panels, as exhibited by a faceless group that calls itself ‘’Progressive Minds Forum,’’ is rather prosaic.
If political parties fail to organize themselves well by managing their internal wrangling maturely and now chose to bring themselves to the Court, we are duty-bound to adjudicate in accordance with the provisions of the law and not the dictates of any individual or deity, as some people would want us to do.
If political parties conduct themselves well and orderly too, the Courts would definitely handle less cases and the political atmosphere will be much healthier than it is currently.
We shall continuously do our best to discharge our constitutional responsibility to keep the country together and move the nation along the path of peace, progress and development. Attacks by groups, political parties or individuals under any guise will not deter us, rather it will boost our resolve to do more for the country.
It is not only petty but equally very unreasonable for anyone to hurriedly link the Hon. CJN Ariwoola to his state of origin and tribe simply because of a particular judgment of the Court. The major problem of Nigeria has always been the undue emphasis of religion and ethnicity in all our dealings. As long as we continue along that path, progress will remain a mirage. As at this moment, over 600 cases have so far gone to Court from just party primaries which were conducted by political parties without any encumbrance or interference from any external bodies. So, will the political parties, Kperogi or any individual now accuse the court of causing such unpleasant intra-party wrangling that defied all internal conflict resolution mechanisms? Most times, some people try as much as possible to disingenuously stand logic on its head to show their level of unimaginable dexterity.
Those who have cultivated the unfashionable penchant of always attacking the Judiciary over every judgment or ruling given should better have a rethink and start channelling such robust energy into some ventures that are more developmental than destructive. We are not politicians and should not, by any stroke of imagination, be cast in that mould either. Nobody’s interest can ever supersede the interest of everybody. Nigeria is bigger than everyone of us. A word is enough for the wise.
DR. AKANDE AWENERI FESTUS
DIRECTOR OF PRESS AND INFORMATION
SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA
