Stop Giving Conflicting Judgments, CJN Tells Appeal
Court Justices
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud
Mohammed, has expressed concerns over conflicting
judgments emanating from the Court of Appeal.
Addressing justices of the Court of Appeal in Abuja at
the Annual Conference of the Court of Appeal held in
Abuja, Justice Mahmud said: "As the guardians of the
law, we must not only be just but also convey
certainty in our justness."
The Peoples Democratic Party largely affected by the
decisions of justices of the Court of Appeal in
electoral matters had accused the justices of
interpreting the laws to favour the ruling All
Progressives Congress.
The party had also accused the justices of the Court
of Appeal of giving conflicting judgments in similar
cases and refusing to follow the precedents laid
down by the Supreme Court
In apparent allusion to these myriad of complaints,
the CJN, at the annual conference held last week,
said: "My Lords, it bears reminding that the
overriding objective of every legal system in the
world is to do justice. However, this cannot be
achieved where there is confusion as to the state of
the law as pronounced by the court."
He told the justices that they were not allowed to
continue to shift the goalposts when the game was
on.
While advising them to adhere to certainty and stop
creating confusion, Justice Mohammed said: "As
your lordships will agree, where an aggrieved person
perceives, whether rightly or wrongly, that they will
not receive justice, such a situation can indeed bode
ill for the community in which he lives and can lead
to acrimony and anarchy.
"We must not ignore the negative perception that is
occasioned by conflicting judgments delivered at
various divisions of the Court of Appeal. Such judicial
contradictions only result in untold hardships to
litigants in their quest for justice. They further cast
your lordships in an unfavourable light and leave the
judiciary at the mercy of inuendos, crass publications
and editorials."
The CJN nevertheless commended the justices for
the good work they were doing. He specifically
commended the president of the court, Justice
Zainab Bulkachuwa, for the way she constituted
election petitions tribunals in spite of budgetary
constraints.
He said: "I must similarly commend your lordships
for being instrumental in propelling the judiciary
towards an improved system of administration of
justice in Nigeria. With one justice of appeal to 1.8
million Nigerians, I daresay that your efforts at
dispensing justice, despite frightening caseloads, can
best be described as extraordinary."
To put an end to a situation where a division of the
Court of Appeal delivers a judgment that contradicts
the one delivered by another division, the CJN
advised the Court of Appeal to "have an internal law
report for Justices to access either electronically or in
print in order to reduce the avenue for conflict in its
jurisprudence."
He further commended to them the advice of a
former justice of the Supreme Court, Niki Tobi, who
suggested that, "immediately a decision is given in
one division, it should be sent to the other division
without delay."
Although the retired justice gave the advice as far
back as 2008, the Court of Appeal did not act on it.
Pending before the Supreme Court are appeals
challenging the decisions of the Court of Appeal in
Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Taraba and Benue States among
others.
Speaking at the conference, the President of the
Court, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, said 2015 was
quite challenging because it was an election year.
She told the justices that because of the new policy of
zero budgeting, the court would not embark on new
projects but would strive to complete all existing
ones.
Bulkachuwa said the annual justices conference was
introduced by former President of the court, Justice
Mustapha Akanbi, to enable the court take stock of its
activities for the year, identify challenges and proffer
solutions
Source: Thisday newspaper