Justice Peter Lifu’s judgement yesterday, for whatever it is worth, is a figment of his imagination. As a lawyer, I know that I shouldn’t address his lordship this way, but I think he deserves it, even more.
I honestly don’t know how that man still sits on the revered seat as a judge after the Court of Appeal had described him as “unfit for the bench” and after having called his judgement in the same case “judicial rascality.”
It appears to me that Justice Lifu is happy doing things that work against the machinery of our justice system.
The law in Nigeria, as it stands today, is undoubtedly in favour of the ADC. The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed, and in many cases, that the leadership and internal management of a political party, including who becomes chairman or who holds executive office, are internal (domestic) affairs of the party and are non-justiciable.
I don’t know from where Justice Lifu got the law under which he dismissed the leadership of Sen. David Mark and even made far-reaching consequential orders that all actions taken by the David Mark leadership are null and void, including the presidential ticket held by Atiku and Amaechi. This is strange and cannot stand on appeal.
What I was taught in law school at a very young age is that judges are humans; in fact, higher beings. In practical reality, in political cases, such as the case of ADC and Nafiu Bala, judges are expected to consider or take judicial notice of grave issues that may produce urgent or grave consequences. This case, if not handled properly, may produce unimaginable consequences in Nigeria if allowed to stand.
Yes, ADC has appealed against the judgement. But what kind of appeal do you want a candidate, now disqualified two months before the election, to conduct and remain stable on election day?
That’s, I believe, just a ploy to make Nigeria a one-party state, using the law in the wrong way, that would make room for President Tinubu to go into the presidential election alone while the majority of Nigerians are suffering under his regime that sells fuel at N1,500 per litre and cannot account for the cost or revenue supposedly generated from the price increase.
From my experience, law and political realities are inseparable. The political atmosphere in this country is filled with heavy emotion and tension. It is capable of catching fire. It is better to allow the elections to take place between Tinubu (who insists on continuing the removal of the petroleum subsidy) and Atiku (who insists on restoring the fuel subsidy) and let the people decide. It is going to be a referendum.
The judiciary must be careful because my lordships are replacing voters in Nigerian elections. They need to save our judiciary. That is the law on the side of the law that there is separation of powers that allots judicial powers to the judiciary. They must not choose who occupies political positions for citizens. It is ultra vires their function.
The politics of the law is something else. Justice Lifu ought to have considered what would happen to children, women and men who are poor and vulnerable in this country if Atiku is not allowed to contest by a court misapplying the law.
By the way, a friend in Lagos who is from Zaria informed me yesterday, after the judgement, that he will be moving his family back to Zaria in December because of the tension an election without Atiku may bring. ‘Allah kiyaye’.
Justice Lifu is doing so much harm to himself, to President Tinubu, to all of us and to posterity. Nobody should jubilate over such grave judicial infraction. Justice Lifu is engaged in the deliberate and consistent destruction of the judiciary. This is a man who should protect it.
We should not keep quiet and pretend.
My consolation is that Justice Lifu’s judgment is not supported by law, nor by the facts on the ground. Most importantly, Justice Muhammad Baba is the youngest justice in the Supreme Court of Nigeria today. He is 56 years old. Supreme Court justices retire compulsorily at the age of 70 years. There are senior justices in the apex court who would save the situation.
As Professor Roscoe Pound advocated, the role of a jurist or legislator is like that of an engineer who should use the law as a practical mechanism to shape society, resolve friction, and balance competing human interests. So judges, when passing judgement in a political case, must not isolate themselves from the realities of society and what is on the ground.
Law is wine, the older the better!
