‘THE ADC LEGAL CONUNDRUM,’ by Richard Akinnola II

First part – Political

Right from the time of Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), led by Senator Arthur Nzeribe and Abimbola Davis, any discerning person in 1993 knew that these were the people the Babangida junta was using to truncate the June 12 election.

They used Justices Bassey Ikpeme and Dahiru Saleh. Then, there were floodgates of litigations, which eventually led to the judgment of Justice Dolapo Akinsanya which declared the Interim National Government of Ernest Shonekan illegal. General Abacha then used the judicial confusion as a basis to overthrow Shonekan. So, to that extent, our judges should be careful how they allow themselves being used to scuttle democracy.

Having said this, it is therefore no news that people in government use individuals, particularly in certain political parties to “dabaru” things within other parties. It’s a well-funded scheme. It happened between 2003 and 2006 when Obasanjo was the president. His government used a similar tactic to infiltrate and balkanise the Alliance for Democracy (AD) by using Alhaji Abdulkadir to cause a factional leadership crisis in the AD, a move which eventually pushed Bola Tinubu group out of the party, which led to the formation of AC.

Anyone who says the current travails of ADC, where certain individuals who can’t make ends meet, are affording high legal fees, have nothing to do with external forces, is being clever by half. It is normal in our political clime to cause problems in your enemy camp. It’s part of the tactics of the CIA, MOSSAD and KGB. It didn’t start with ADC and it won’t end with the ADC. In high stakes intra-party political disputes, the litigation cost is usually borne by the rival party.

Second part – Legal

This brings me to the legal strategy. With due respect to the legal team of ADC, l think they are culpable in their present legal quagmire.
First, instead of challenging the jurisdiction of the Federal High court at the trial court level, they went to the Court of Appeal and now to the Supreme Court, losing at least three months in a matter that should be urgent. They played into the hands of their adversaries and so, they have themselves to blame.

While a number of injunctive reliefs granted by certain courts may be questionable, the party itself did a tardy job.

The judex

Finally, the courts should also know that there can only be a judiciary in an atmosphere of peace and order. The judex should learn from the ignoble roles played by certain judges between 1993 and 1994, leading to the Abacha coup, which he ingeniously blamed on the judiciary. It is not in doubt that the public perception of the judiciary in the current dispensation has been at a very low ebb. In the last seven years or so, there have been a series of questionable decisions of the courts that stand both law and logic on their heads.

Justice is rooted in public confidence and when that confidence is eroded, it endangers the institution and even the judges.

For students of history, after the Rawlings revolution in 1979, three Ghanaian judges were killed. In October 2016, we all saw how the DSS raided the homes of some judges in a dawn raid. It never happened before. I therefore want to admonish our judiciary not to be caught in the web of the silly games of politicians.

Yes, there would be pressures from the political class but it’s your responsibility not to yield to such pressures.

In years to come, let your name be mentioned like those of J. I. C. Taylor, Yaya Jinadu, Chukwudifu Oputa, Anthony Aniagolu, Kayode Eso, Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, Idigbe, Ephraim Akpata, Samson Uwaifo, Akinola Aguda, Muhammad Uwais, Aloma Muktar, among others.

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