On Black Market Injunctions
Meanwhile, because of the crisis of confidence created by the way many Judges got entangled in the politics of June 12, one of the first things the late General Sani Abacha did on assumption of office was to establish the late Justice Kayode Eso panel. Inaugurated on 29th December 1993, the panel submitted its report on 5th July 1994, indicting no fewer than 47 judges. But the report was never implemented. And with that, Judges continue to peddle and trade injunctions.
A former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, once decried this situation, saying “Rule 2(a) (ii) of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers provides that a judicial officer must avoid the abuse of the power of issuing interim injunctions ex-parte” at a conference of Judges. He added, for emphasis: “Permit me to also caution you all to avoid indiscriminate granting of ex-parte applications for interim injunctions, especially without regard to the likely inconveniences that may be caused as a result of such orders. You are all advised to stay on the side of caution. Any judicial officer proved to have contravened this rule will summarily be disciplined by the NJC. A word is enough for the wise.”
Ordinarily, the legal procedure for redressing an injustice (perceived or real) is an appeal to the same court to review its decision or an appeal to the higher hierarchy of court. But our courts have become a pawn in the political chess game. Because of that, many of our politicians now do ‘Forum Shopping’ by seeking injunctions from ‘sympathetic Judges’. Yet, what proliferation of injunctions indicates is that justice is now for sale and that bodes ill for the rule of law in Nigeria.
There is hardly any former CJN that has not spoken against the abuse of ex-parte order. But indiscriminate granting of injunctions isn’t going to disappear until the judiciary takes the bold step of owning the problem and confronting it head on. There is therefore an urgent need to review the rules of our courts with regard to political cases so as to block the loopholes that judges exploit. Those who will not follow the rules should be sanctioned. But I must also add that it is not as simple as many think. We cannot classify all interim injunctions as bad. Each case will have to be considered on its merit.
The National Judicial Council (NJC), clothed with power to discipline erring Judges, is obviously not doing enough. Perhaps because the council does not want to be seen to be stifling judicial discretion. There is a strong point for that. To do justice without fear or favour, judges must not be intimidated. But it should also be clear to the leadership of the judiciary that something is wrong with the way and manner our courts, including the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, now handle political cases. For instance, while the high courts are culpable in abuse of injunctions, the various divisions of the Court of Appeal can also not agree among themselves when deciding similar political cases. The situation is worse in the Federal High Court where Judges are practically sitting on appeal over orders granted by colleagues in other divisions. That’s why Justice Tsoho’s admonition is very timely.
In my book, ‘Against The Run of Play: How an Incumbent President Was defeated in Nigeria’, President Goodluck Jonathan recounted a meeting he had with the leadership of both the National Assembly and the judiciary on how to find an institutional framework to combat corruption in the country. He told me: “…I also invited Chief Judges from one state in each of the six geopolitical zones. I specifically requested for Lagos and Anambra to represent their zones. My choosing Anambra was because that is one state where every political aspirant goes into election with at least two court orders in his pocket. You cannot fight corruption without dealing with such issues.”
As I have argued on several occasions on this page, the role of the court as the resolver of disputes and defender of the constitution, requires that Judges abide by their oath at all times, and in all circumstances. And for that reason, a judiciary debilitated by, or prone to, mercantile political manipulation is a danger to any society. The NJC must intervene to rid the judiciary of transactional Judges who have commercialised court injunctions and are causing instability in the system.
Olusegun Adeniyi, Abuja