By  Femi Oluwasanmi

The recent conflicting and contradictory judgements and Court orders delivered by the Federal High courts in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt on the Peoples Democratic Party  (PDP) National Convention and the Abia state governorship logjam question the role of the judiciary in Nigeria’s nascent  democracy. It raises concern over the consistent and persistent somersaults of judicial officers in the temple of justice.
The first judicial somersault in recent times occured  on  June 27, 2016, when Justice Victor Okon Abang of Federal High Court in Abuja sacked Governor Ikpeazu and replaced him with Mr Ogah. A judgement that was later described by the Appeal Court as a rape of democracy.
Justices Morenike Ogunwumiju of Appeal Court  stated that Justice Abang raped democracy when he ordered INEC to issued certificate of return to Mr Uche Ogah without any evidence of tax forgery against Governor Ikpeazu. The justice wondered how Justice Abang  arrived at his ridiculous conclusion.
This shows the level at which most judicial officers apply their personal rule at the detriment of rule of law and fair hearing.  This  miscarriage of justice is inimical to rule of law and other dividends of democracy. It undermines the purpose of Federal High Court stipulated in Section 219 of the 1999 Constitution as (amended 2011)  and negates the role of the judiciary stipulated in the Section 6(6) of constitution.
Not up to two months after  Judicial misapplication of law by Justice Abang, another anarchy in the (PDP) surfaced as result of judicial muscle flexing at the Federal High Courts in Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Lagos.
The anomalies began when Justice Valentine Ashia sacked Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the chairman of the PDP. The judgement that was not only affirmed by Justice Mohammed Limen of Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on July 4, 2016, but also  declared Senator Markafi Caretaker Committee as the legitimate leadership of the party.
While Justice Ibrahim Buba of Federal High Court in Lagos declared it illegal and recognised Sheriff as original chairman. The judgement that was upheld by  Justice Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja before  Justice Nwakamma  Ogbonnaya  re-sacked Sheriff on the 17th August, 2016.
The battle for supremacy between the courts of coordinate jurisdiction  intensified when the case of  PDP National Convention slated for August 17, 2016 was presented to the Federal High Court.
The High Court in Abuja on August 15, 2016 judged that the convention should be suspended till all cases regarding the convention is determined by the court. Contrary to this, Justice Ibrahim Watila of Port-Harcourt Federal High Court on the same day stated  that the party’s National Convention should proceed as slated and  mandated   INEC and security agents to monitor and provide everything needed for the success of the convention.
The following day, Justice  Abang re-emphasized his position on the convention and threatened to deal with anybody that failed to comply with his judgement.
Though, the Appeal Court is yet to determine the case but it is very clear that one of the high court justices must have committed an error somewhere. This is because it is not possible for the court of appeal to affirm the two opposing judgements.
This judicial recklessness is dangerous for our democracy. It may worsen the parochial attitudes of Nigerians.
It may bring economic hardship to the nation because the right to own means of production is only guaranteed  in a state where laws work and not where self-help method prevails.
Also, this misapplication of laws may return us back to era of the military regime where the rule of fair hearing is subjected to  military decrees. Because if the judiciary, which is one of the tripods of democracy, continues to somersault in this manner, the military will be forced to hijack  power.
However, nobody is praying for this to happen in Nigeria because the worst democracy is better than the best military regime but we should also remember that the worst military regime is better than the best  form of anarchy.
Anarchy is inevitable in a society where misapplication of law and miscarriage of justice continue to surface on a regular basis as is the case in Nigeria. This is because misapplication of law is inimical  to the rule of law .
However, the issue  of conflicting judgments is not new in Nigeria’s history.  It happened in 1993, when the courts of concurrent jurisdiction gave different judgements on whether to conduct the aborted 1993 general election or not. The only difference is the tempo and dimension it  is taking in this era of change.
Before this administration, we had a case where a person was free of 13 counts charge which he  was later jailed for in London. Even in  recent times, we heard President Muhammadu Buhari saying his headache is the judiciary.
The Nigerian judiciary has contributed tremendously to the crisis, poverty, violence, robbery, abuse of laws, high level of militancy, and other social vices in Nigeria today.
To address these problems, there is need for judicial reform. This reform should be done in a way  that will accommodate more stakeholders in the Nigerian Judicial Council and strengthen sanctions for erring judicial officers so that we can stop the country  from  treading  the paths of economic oblivion and political obliteration.

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Oluwasanmi writes from  Arepo, Ogun State.