Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria are angry, but politics has not allowed Nigerians to notice, even when those angry men and women, can, with a stroke of pen, demolish political aspirations, permutations and victories. How underrated can VVIPs get.
Consider this. In the build-up to the 2015 watershed presidential election, Candidate Muhammadu Buhari had been hit with about four cases, seeking his disqualification over academic qualification to run. Of course, he lied on oath, his original certificates, including school certificate that should qualify him to run were with the Military Board. When he became president, he punished many senior officers for exposing the lie. But even as the Commander-in-Chief, with the Board, directly under his palms, he couldn’t still present the credentials for re-election filing. Though he was a god of sorts in 2015, it was the judiciary leadership of that time that eventually saved his aspiration. The judges handling his cases were forbidden from restraining orders. The system leadership warned no candidate should be stopped from being on the ballot, through an interim order. Whatever pre-election issues were to be treated alongside the petitions, expected to challenge the outcome of the poll, since it is customary for all losers, including those without any kind of winning chance, to be in court, just for attention and negotiation.
But Goodluck Jonathan isn’t just any kind of loser. He refused to litigate the poll outcome, which four years later, Buhari’s long-time associate-turned mortal enemy, Buba Galadima, said could have been judicially awarded the former President if he had gone to court.
Hear him on Sunrise Daily of Channels TV, “He (Jonathan) could have successfully triumphed because of what had happened eventually from the rulings of the Supreme Court on Rivers and Akwa Ibom. With the benefit of insight, I think Jonathan shot himself in the foot.” When the election was conducted Galadima was an insider in Buhari’s camp. He knew whatzup.
You would think the president would be grateful to the system that saved his political career and covered his shame. A former governor who is late, said to a younger brother who had helped him a load that there are three ways of repaying a good deed; pay back with good deed, not paying back at all or pay good back with evil. He told the younger brother, he had chosen the third option, by working against his political aspiration. The younger brother abused him a ton. Good thing, they had a semblance of a closure in his lifetime.
In relating with the Judiciary, the president, has, without remorse, chosen the third option, like the former governor. A clear pointer is the humiliating exit he handed former Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen in January 2019, though he was one of the three justices of the apex court who handed him a favourable dissenting minority judgment against Umaru Yar’Adua of PDP in 2007. Then, Onnoghen was not described as corrupt. He was celebrated alongside the other two, Justice Maryam Aloma and George Oguntade by Team Buhari.
But it seems the president has not been able to move on, from Wednesday December 28, 2011 when the apex court unanimously awarded Jonathan the presidential election, conducted eight months earlier. Buhari is convinced he won the election, despite failing massively in the South. Judiciary said he didn’t. Then began a marathon of malevolence. 11 years after the president thought the Judiciary made him cry, and seven years after he got the eeku ida (sword’s hilt) he has, at every opportunity, made the system and its leading lights, weep.
For those who shrugged off Buhari bludgeoning Onnoghen and railroading judges into DSS dungeon among other fear-inducing acts, something worse, is gradually creeping on the nation.
For Supreme Court justices’ internal communication to Chief Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed to find its way into the public space even when all had not appended their signatures to it shows something big is amiss. The first indicator is having to come together as a unit against him, when one or two of them could have been appointed to speak with him. For them writing at all shows communication has completely broken down between him and them. Obviously, there are camps and divides. Unfortunately, it is the CJN against others. I can’t see him surviving this, despite the words from within on Friday that the issues that led to the revolt had been settled.
Simply put, Tanko is no longer fit for the office, but only President Buhari who brought him to replace Onnoghen can fix the collapsing final court in the land. He would have to do something before he leaves on May 29, 2023, though Tanko himself is billed for retirement on December 31 of same year.
Even Onnoghen had what could pass for a last laugh four days back. He spoke at the book launch of his daughter, Ewuwuni. He lobbed lobsters at Tanko and possibly those who masterminded his early exit. What a platform, to fire. He said the apex court was close to becoming a glorified high court. He was once there. He is still an insider. His loyalists are still there, still embittered he gotta go. He catalogued the woes of the Supreme Court Justices, including living in rented apartments in Abuja backwater, suffering in silence, but not smiling.
Maybe, the former man didn’t look himself in the mirror. He would have known he left a calamity behind for the system. The Chief Registrar he head-hunted from Sharia Court, has been traced to the larger portion of the mess between the CJN and his colleagues. Specifically, she won notoriety for running slave errands like slaves, especially when the CJN’s approvals were required by his equals. When her calamitous tenure ended, a grossly-inexperienced successor who is shadow-boxing imaginary enemies everywhere, took over. The system simply shut down. You want to ask how is Tanko succeeding with NJC and failing with Supreme Court. The answer is hanging.
Imagine. It took the Justices’ petition for Tanko to call a meeting that should have been held over a year ago. The training that used to be about thrice in a year has now been reduced to once under him. For two years, the Rule of the Court which was ready wasn’t signed by him. Do we really still have a Supreme Court?