Atiku’s Appeal: CJ, Opposition Bicker Over Supreme Court Panel Composition

By Uche Mbah

While the Conference of United Political Parties are busy alleging plans by the Chief Justice of the Federation, CJ, Muhammed Tanko, to jettison the age old tradition at the Supreme Court’s composition due to pressures from the Presidency, Tanko has been struggling to assure a bemused nation of the willingness of the Supreme court under his watch to stand with Justice instead of with Judgements.

Recall that the CUPP has claimed to have exposed the plot by the Presidency to pressure the CJ to alter and jettison the age old tradition of selecting seven most senior Justices as panel members of the election petition appeal in preference to handpicking judges for the appeal, a situation the opposition claims is paving the way for Tanko to pick only Judges with apparent allegiance to the cause of the presidency.

The supreme court is the final arbiter in any court case in Nigeria.

“We have it on good authority that the All Progressive Congress APC led Federal govt has been mounting undue pressure on the Chief Justice of the Federation and indeed the entire court to accept a handpicked panel and jettison the age-long tradition of the Court of selecting the most senior justices of the Supreme Court to sit on the panel”, said Imo Ugochinyere, the spokesperson of the group, while addressing a World Press Conference in Abuja. “The disquiet and bad blood caused by the APC in the Supreme Court now is a clear desecration of the highest temple of justice in the land. The Opposition and Most Nigerians will not accept a handpicked panel neither will the pronouncement of such panel command the requite respect and confidence of the people of Nigeria and we in the Opposition.”

According to him, “the Supreme Court is for the people the last hope of the judiciary. The actions of the Supreme Court must inspire national confidence and deliver not just judgment but justice and that path to justice is not only about the law but about the ordinary man believing that justice has been done.

“The Supreme Court is Supreme and its words must be for the protection of the society and the people and the law. A grave error was done at Appeal Court and the nation is waiting to see how a man who violated the Electoral Act and was supposed to have been disqualified managed to survive at the Appeal Court. That Court failed in both the issues of law and issues of national interest.”

But the Cj, in apparent reaction, says that the Supreme court will be more inclined to delivering Justice than judgements. Speaking at a meeting with Professor Itse Sagay, Chairman of Presidential advisory committee on Anti Corruption, Tanko was reported as saying that before every Judgement, all the judges of the supreme court will review the Judgement before it is delivered.

“The Justices always put in concerted efforts by doing a critical review of all facts and evidence before them to arrive at a decision in order to give justice to all parties in a free, fair and generally acceptable manner without any iota of equivocation”, he said.

“We are all seasoned judicial officers that were appointed to the Supreme Court based on merit, experience and qualification.

“So, we are bound by the oath we have subscribed to and thus discharge our responsibilities without deference to anybody, and we will continue to do so.

“It may interest you to know that before we deliver any ruling or judgment, no matter how small it is, even if it is only five sentences: we have to hold a conference of all the Justices on the panel, and could even expand it in some critical situations to involve all the justices of the court.

“The sole aim of this practice is to ensure that justice is given in every case before us, no matter how insignificant it might appear to be because we are the final court in the land.”