Justice and the rule of law came on display on Tuesday when the court of appeal in Abuja rubbished what was described a black market judgement delivered by controversial judge, Mr Justice Peter Lifu, against some political parties in the country.
Lifu, in his judgement, had directed INEC to deregister the ADC, Accord Party, the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP). The judgement however came after a court of appeal had ordered a stay of action during the pendency of the case in the high court.
The intention of the judgement was to prevent the parties from sponsoring candidates for the 2027 election. The immediate victim would have been the Osun State governor, Senator Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, whose election for a second term comes up on August 15.
But the appellate court has declared the judgement null and void. The three-man panel of the appellate court presided over by Justice Abba Mohammed, in a unanimous decision, held that the trial court had no judicial power to hear the case initially.
In fact, the court, while describing the judgement “a nullity” held that “what the learned trial court did amount to judicial impertinence or what the Supreme Court called judicial insubordination.”
The appellate noted that the trial court was wrong to have proceeded with the delivery of the judgment despite the order of the court of appeal directing a stay of proceedings which includes the delivery of the judgement.
It also noted that the first respondent had no locus standi to institute the action in the first place, thereby setting aside the judgement of the trial court.
“The evidence before the court clearly shows a compliance with Section 225A of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended). That the judgment of the trial judge was perverse,” the appeal court said.
Speaking to journalists on the sideline of the judgement, counsel to Action Peoples Party (APP), Peter Abang, expressed satisfaction over the judgement of the appellate court.
He said, “This judgement is a victory for democracy in Nigeria and that in the administration of justice, the hierarchy of Courts in Nigeria must be respected as they establish an unbroken chain of command and no court has the luxury to sit in judgment against the correctness or otherwise of orders of superior courts.”
