The future is bleak for the legal practice, legal profession and electoral jurisprudence in Nigeria. Nigerian democracy may head to a calamitous end unless the judiciary and legal profession retrace their steps in the kind of judgements being given in electoral matters. I am not a prophet of doom but truth needs to be told.
The legal profession seems to be losing its rightful place in Nigerian society. About 33 years ago, when I joined the legal profession, there was consistency in precedents. High courts were bound by their previous decisions. The Court of Appeal was bound by its previous decisions unless there were reasons to depart from it. In departing their Lordships will give reasons.
The Supreme Court was the alpha and omega in our jurisprudence.Its decisions bind all the courts below it and its bound by its own decisions unless over ruled or departed from.It was not consistently inconsistent in decisions. Lawyers were sure that with certainty of precedents of previous decisions, they could give legal advice and be sure that their advice would be correct and almost accurate.
But can we say that of today, particularly in electoral jurisprudence. I do not think so.There are so many cameleonistic precedents in electoral jurisprudence in Nigeria. Many of these inconsistent jurisprudence have created road blocks to not only attainment of justice but certainty of precedents.
Many precedents being set are in aid of electoral rascality, which clearly are not attributes of democracy. I believe that gradually, there is no hope of getting justice in electoral jurisprudence by those who are robbed of victories at the polls either by thuggish approaches or by outright INEC collusion with those they are ordered to declare in breach of the sovereignty of the people.
That is what I can deduce from the kind of judgements and decisions being given by our courts, especially the final court of the land.You work so hard and cite decisions in similar cases, but by the stroke of the pen, your efforts, which are not properly appreciated, are dismissed with the waves of hands. What kind of country is Nigeria.
Many decisions are at variance with legal logic and constitution and previous decisions of our courts. What is the need for those declared lossers of elections in Nigeria going to court when it is cleared that nothing presented in aid of proof of electoral fraud matters not to the judex
Many of the decisions of our courts in electoral matters have elevated rules of court far more superior and supreme to the extent now that in trials of election petition cases, roadblocks mixed with concrete made of iron rods have effectively been erected on the ways of proof of election petitions.
Yet we retained rights to file election petitions before the Election Petition Tribunal or Court in our electoral jurisprudence.The right of appeal in election petitions is also donated by the Constitution.There is no doubt that most Nigerians are worried about most of the judgements in election petitions cases.
That is why judgments coming out of courts in election matters are being revolted and ignored by those who are bound to obey them. People are revolting because they see no justice and good logic in those judgements. People know that such decisions are delivered against all known facts, which facts even when presented are overlooked and ignored under the guise of hybrid legal technicalities rooted in the rules of court but not even the substantive laws that permit receptions of such evidence.
Judgements ought to contain and serve the end of justice, the interest of those wrongly denied opportunities at the polls and those who voted for them. But alias, that is not the case in most cases of judgements in electoral matters. And because the logicality of the reasonings behind some of these judgements are of very doubtful jurisprudence, political actors no longer campaign on issues.
