As the Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for the appeal of an election petition filed by former vice president Atiku Abubakar, the front-runner of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February presidential election, the legal struggle to remove President Bola Tinubu will continue at the court on Monday.
The hearing proceedings in Atiku’s appeal will take place before the Supreme Court sitting in Abuja on October 23, according to a notice sent to the parties on Thursday by Supreme Court Registrar Zainab Garba.
The notice stated, “Take notice that the above appeal/motion is scheduled for hearing before the Nigerian Supreme Court, which will convene in Abuja on Monday, October 23, 2023.”
“And further take notice that this notice is deemed sufficiently served on you in accordance with Order 2 Rule 1(2) of the Supreme Court Rules 1985, as amended, if it is left at your address of service or sent by registered post. Section 26 of the Interpretation Act, 1964 shall apply, since the date of service by post is material.”
It was also confirmed by Dr. Festus Akande, the Director of Information for the Supreme Court, that Atiku’s election challenge was scheduled for hearing on Monday.
The notification was made in response to concerns raised by the House of Representatives regarding the supreme court’s workload.
As of right now, the Supreme Court consists of 11 justices, rather than the 21 necessary by section 230(2) of the 1999 Constitution.
In order to guarantee efficient administration of justice throughout the nation, the green chamber decided to request that the federal government select new justices for the Supreme Court.
A motion of urgent public interest was made by Representative Patrick Umoh of the Ikot Ekpene Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom State, and it was followed by the House’s resolution.
The following motion is labeled: “Urgent need for the Federal Government to appoint new justices to the Supreme Court to ensure efficient and timely delivery of justice in the nation.” The Supreme Court of Nigeria, according to Umoh, is the highest court in the nation and has the authority to hear cases and provide decisions pertaining to the entire country of Nigeria.
“The Federal Government to appoint nine new justices to the Supreme Court in order to expedite the hearing and determination of matters for effective and efficient justice delivery in Nigeria,” the House said in its resolution.
It further directed its Committee on Federal Judiciary to guarantee adherence to the resolution.
The Supreme Court is currently composed of 11 justices, which is 10 justices short of the 21 justices required by the Constitution. Umoh had noted this prior to the House motion.
As required by the Constitution, the court must hear and rule on electoral matters from around the nation in a short amount of time during this post-election season, according to the resolution.
“Being aware that there are a significant number of cases pending before the Supreme Court in 2023, which prevents parties from having a hearing date for matters filed within the year, with the exception of election petitions;
“Concerned that the absence of new justices to the Supreme Court has crippled the court’s ability to deliver justice quickly, effectively, and efficiently; hindered business dealings and economic growth; restricted citizens’ access to justice; placed extreme mental and physical strain on the court’s current justices; and impacted the court’s ability to formulate policy;”
“Applauded the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for his commitment to upholding the law and bolstering the judiciary, as well as his signing of the constitutional amendment harmonizing the retirement age and benefits of judicial officers.”
All Progressives Congress candidate Tinubu was proclaimed the victor of the election on February 25 by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Atiku, who finished second in the race, has filed an appeal with the presidential election tribunal to have the results of the election void.
Nonetheless, the tribunal unanimously affirmed Tinubu’s election victory and rejected the complaints submitted by Atiku and Obi as being without merit.
Atiku and Obi challenged the lower court’s decision to the Supreme Court because they were unhappy with it.
Former vice president Atiku criticized the tribunal’s decision on Tinubu’s eligibility for the election, votes from the Federal Capital Territory, and other issues in his 35 grounds of appeal, which were submitted by his principal attorney, Chris Uche, SAN.
He implored the supreme court to vacate the ruling rendered by the subordinate court.
Along with requesting permission from the Supreme Court to submit the President’s academic transcripts from Chicago State University as “fresh and additional evidence” to back up his appeal contesting the results of the contested poll, the PDP candidate was also trying to overturn Tinubu’s election.
The former vice president asked the court for permission to depose on behalf of CSU Registrar Caleb Westberg under oath on Tinubu’s academic records in an application that was submitted on October 5.
In an attempt to disqualify the President from running in the election, the appellant had questioned the validity of the CSU certificate that the President had provided to the INEC, claiming that the document had been faked.
The president’s lead attorney, Wole Olanipekun SAN, revealed that Tinubu’s legal team was informed of the supreme court’s hearing on the appeals.
“We recently received notice from the Supreme Court that the appeal hearing will take place on Monday. Pre-hearings are not available in appeals; in fact, there is nothing akin to them. This hearing is an appeal. He stated that the appeal will be heard on Monday. The Supreme Court does not list matters for mention.
He had previously declared that all the paperwork required to be filed on behalf of their customer had been completed.
The senior counsel encouraged Nigerians to wait for the appeals’ verdict, as his team had anticipated.
As a seasoned attorney and respected figurehead, he declared, “I don’t preempt matters before the court.” Let’s approach the bridge before going over it. Regarding cases that are pending in court, I remain silent. I’ll give you a quote on that. As a practicing attorney, I am.
“Appearing in court is our duty. With God’s grace, we shall be present at the Supreme Court when they summon us. Monday will soon be here.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives’ proposal for the nomination of Supreme Court justices has received support from both the Supreme Court and the Nigerian Bar Association.
The NBA’s spokesperson, Habib Lawal, praised the parliamentarians’ resolution.
“Any call for the Supreme Court to fill its vacant seats is consistent with the Nigerian Bar Association’s persistent call—led by Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, OON, SAN—that the Court be staffed to its full constitutional complement of 21 seats,” he stated. The NBA, therefore, encourages everyone to take any step to guarantee that this is accomplished as soon as is reasonably possible.
Dr. Akande, the director of information for the Supreme Court, stated that the court desperately needed judges.
He was hopeful that with the anticipated appointment of additional justices, “the jinx would be broken” and the court would have its complete complement.
The 11 justices of the Supreme Court are named Akande. To satisfy the complete complement of the court, we require 11 more. By 2020, when they were 20, we were almost at full complement. Hopefully, this time the jinx is broken. More justice at the highest court is required.
The absence of justices in the highest court, according to Adegoke Rasheed, SAN, is peculiar.
Order has been restored in the House of Representatives. Our Supreme Court has eleven justices, which is unprecedented. It was expected that these justices would have been appointed earlier. There ought to be a enough number of employees at that level. Despite the fact that the constitution specifies that there should be 21 justices, it should be done and selecting them is not difficult.
They’re to remind the president of the Supreme Court scarcity, according to Adedipe Ifedayo, SAN. Although they have done a good job of bringing it up, I’m not comfortable with them giving him a deadline. Justices should be replaced since they are retiring. We must not overburden them.
