The Supreme Court sitting in Abuja has delivered a unanimous 5-member panel judgement that contained some of the strongest rebukes against the weaponisation of judicial processes in recent history.

The Apex Court strongly criticised the Court of Appeal’s grant of a restorative ex parte order, describing the situation as a “judicial tragedy”.

It emphasised that the practice of granting far-reaching ex parte reliefs, which has become prevalent in some trial courts, must not be permitted to extend into appellate proceedings.

The Court held that the relief granted was, in substance, an interlocutory injunction, which ought not to have been granted ex parte.

It further held that the Court of Appeal exercised jurisdiction over a matter that was not yet properly before it, reiterating the settled position that the mere filing of a Notice of Appeal does not, without more, confer jurisdiction on the appellate court.

The Supreme Court also found the ex parte order staying proceedings before the trial court to be fundamentally defective. The order was accordingly set aside.

Neconde’s case was found by the Supreme Court to be meritorious, and all impugned 186-day-old ex parte orders made by the Court of Appeal against Neconde and Nestoil were set aside.

The judgment reinforces the settled principles governing appellate jurisdiction and serves as a significant caution against the grant of substantive interlocutory relief through ex parte processes, particularly at the appellate level.

In setting aside the decisions of the Court of Appeal, the 5 man panel of the Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed a simple but powerful truth: that justice cannot be compromised, and that the rule of law must prevail over institutional overreach.

It sends an unmistakable message that Nigeria’s apex court will not allow the machinery of the law to be weaponised against legitimate enterprise.

Nigeria must learn from this moment. The integrity of the judicial system is not an abstract ideal; it is the bedrock upon which economic growth, investor confidence, and national progress are built. Where it falters, the consequences are severe. But where it stands firm, as it has now done, hope is restored.

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