… As INEC chair expresses bitterness
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), Justice Tanko Muhammad, has warned judges against issuing conflicting orders.
He gave the warning at a meeting he held with six State chief judges in Abuja on Monday.
Muhammad invited the judges over conflicting ex-parte orders.
Spokesperson of the NJC, Soji Oye, said the Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory was also in attendance.
He said the CJN first had a one-on-one interaction with the Chief Judges of the FCT, Abuja, and then the CJs of Rivers, Kebbi, Cross River, Jigawa, Anambra, and Imo states.
“Each of the CJs present was separately quizzed personally by the CJN for over an hour before he later read the riot act in a joint session with all of them,” the statement said.
“A damage to one jurisdiction is a damage to all. We must, therefore, put an end to indiscriminate granting of ex parte orders, conflicting judgements or rulings occasioned by forum-shopping.
“Your job as Heads of Court is a sacred one, and it, therefore, includes you vicariously taking the sins of others. There must be an end to this nonsense.
“You shall henceforth take absolute charge in assigning cases or matters, especially political personally. We shall make an example with three judges and never shall we condone such act.”
Three judges who granted conflicting ex parte orders have been invited to appear before the NJC.
Their identities were not revealed but Oye said they have been asked to show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken against them.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that conflicting orders emanating from courts of coordinate jurisdiction are making its work difficult and hampering democratic development in Nigeria.
INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said this on Monday in Abuja at the third quarterly meeting with political parties.
According to him, what is most disconcerting is that the more INEC tried to improve the credibility and transparency of the electoral process, the more extraneous obstacles were put in its way through litigations.
“On the issue of litigations, particularly the conflicting orders emanating from courts of coordinate jurisdiction. I am aware that some of the cases are still in court and therefore subjudice. I must say that some of the decided cases are making our work difficult and we have been crying out loud for a long time.
“In particular, some pre-election litigations relating to the nomination of candidates for elections were not determined until after the elections. Consequently, in some instances, political parties were declared winners without candidates to immediately receive the Certificates of Return (CoR) on account of protracted and conflicting litigations or where courts rather than votes determine winners of elections.
“This situation is compounded by cases on the leadership of political parties, thereby making the exercise of our regulatory responsibilities difficult,” Yakubu said.