₦airaland Forum

Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has expressed concerns over conflicting judgments emanating from the Court of Appeal.


Addressing justices of the Court of Appeal in Abuja at the Annual Conference of the Court of Appeal held in Abuja, Justice Mahmud said: "As the guardians of the law, we must not only be just but also convey certainty in our justness."


The Peoples Democratic Party largely affected by the decisions of justices of the Court of Appeal in electoral matters had accused the justices of interpreting the laws to favour the ruling All Progressives Congress. 


The party had also accused the justices of the Court of Appeal of giving conflicting judgments in similar cases and refusing to follow the precedents laid down by the Supreme Court


In apparent allusion to these myriad of complaints, the CJN, at the annual conference held last week, said: "My Lords, it bears reminding that the overriding objective of every legal system in the world is to do justice. However, this cannot be achieved where there is confusion as to the state of the law as pronounced by the court."


He told the justices that they were not allowed to continue to shift the goalposts when the game was on.
While advising them to adhere to certainty and stop creating confusion, Justice Mohammed said: "As your lordships will agree, where an aggrieved person perceives, whether rightly or wrongly, that they will not receive justice, such a situation can indeed bode ill for the community in which he lives and can lead to acrimony and anarchy.


"We must not ignore the negative perception that is occasioned by conflicting judgments delivered at various divisions of the Court of Appeal. Such judicial contradictions only result in untold hardships to litigants in their quest for justice. They further cast your lordships in an unfavourable light and leave the judiciary at the mercy of inuendos, crass publications and editorials."


The CJN nevertheless commended the justices for the good work they were doing. He specifically commended the president of the court, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, for the way she constituted election petitions tribunals  in spite of budgetary constraints.


He said: "I must similarly commend your lordships for being instrumental in propelling the judiciary towards an improved system of administration of justice in Nigeria. With one justice of appeal to 1.8 million Nigerians, I daresay that your efforts at dispensing justice, despite frightening caseloads, can best be described as extraordinary."


To put an end to a situation where a division of the Court of Appeal delivers a judgment that contradicts the one delivered by another division, the CJN advised the Court of Appeal to "have an internal law report for Justices to access either electronically or in print in order to reduce the avenue for conflict in its jurisprudence."


He further commended to them the advice of a former justice of the Supreme Court, Niki Tobi, who suggested that, "immediately a decision is given in one division, it should be sent to the other division without delay."


Although the retired justice gave the advice as far back as 2008, the Court of Appeal did not act on it.
Pending before the Supreme Court are appeals challenging the decisions of the Court of Appeal in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Taraba and Benue States among others.


Speaking at the conference, the President of the Court, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, said 2015 was quite challenging because it was an election year. 


She told the justices that because of the new policy of zero budgeting, the court would not embark on new projects but would strive to complete all existing ones.


Bulkachuwa said the annual justices conference was introduced by former President of the court, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, to enable the court take stock of its activities for the year, identify challenges and proffer solutions.

Tags: CJN Tells Appeal Court Justices, Featuered, News, Nigeria
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/stop-giving-conflicting-judgments-cjn-tells-appeal-court-justices/229389/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

I tire for their matter o

I think this confirms PDP allegations on the bias of the judiciary to favour the APC ruling party.

This government interefence on our judiciary is becoming rudely overbearing.

This news may not go down well with APC e-war lords

I hope they heed the advice.

Icecomrade:
I think this confirms PDP allegations on the bias of the judiciary to favour the APC ruling party.

This government interefence on our judiciary is becoming rudely overbearing

You're right. Where the judgments have favoured PDP, there were no contradictions. But where they favoured APC, there were. Jesters!

Courts of Appeal are shifting goal post in favour of APC when the game is on and it is too much...... CJN

Justice in Nigeria is for sale, especially when it has to be an electoral matter.

So why don't these cases be subjected to reviews?

PassingShot:
I hope they heed the advice.



You're right. Where the judgments have favoured PDP, there were no contradictions but where they favoured APC, there were. Jesters!

Why are you sounding pained? Am not the CJN nah bros.

Are you suggesting the CJN is a P DP supporter too

Icecomrade:
Why are you sounding pained? Am not the CJN nah bros.

Are you suggesting the CJN is a P DP supporter too

Sounding pain? You're a jester indeed!

PassingShot:
I hope they heed the advice.



You're right. Where the judgments have favoured PDP, there were no contradictions but where they favoured APC, there were. Jesters!

It is not true. Many of us condemned the court for favouring PDP. I remember that vivdly especially during OBJ regime which prompted Yar'Adua to promise to abide by rule of law. One of our problems is repeating the actions of our opponents which we rightly condemned.

I really don't see it that way, and I really don't think it's that bad. I ain't no lawyer but I know that NO 2 CASES ARE IDENTICAL. Politicians, especially the opposition (PDP in today's cases) do have a way of blackmailing the Judiciary. I tell you if a judge in a particular court gives a ruling which favours a politician, that politician would say he has confidence in the judiciáry, Judiciary is the last hope of bla bla bla. But when that same judge gives a ruling which doesn't favour him, he tells you he has lost confidence in the judiciáry, the president is interfaring bla bla bla. Over the past 3 months what I learnt is that most politicians resorted to playing games with judgements based on card readers, they actually saw in it, a perfect lifeline to clling on, hence accuse the Judiciary of sabotage, and even President Buhari of sabotage. If these politicians were not politicians, or let's even say they were honest individuais, they would agree that no single judgement given by the appeal court was based SOLELY on card readers' trouble. It was always card reader and many other irregularities; violence, non compliance, etc. But the mischievous politician would tell you 'they annuled my election because on card reader'

ajbabs:
Courts of Appeal are shifting goal post in favour of APC when the game is on and it is too much...... CJN

Yeah! What do you expect? That is why politicians want to win at all cost. A loser is an orphan as the winner takes everything. The genesis of impunity and decamping from from one party to another Such was the case in the past 16 years. Now, it is the turn of APC and the circle continues.

The issue at stake shouldn't be about PDP or APC, but the future of this country, when contradictory judgements are delivered on similar cases without references to precedence on similar cases, it's a clear invitation to anarchy.

PassingShot:
I hope they heed the advice.



You're right. Where the judgments have favoured PDP, there were no contradictions. But where they favoured APC, there were. Jesters!

no mind them. I still don't understand how a group of people can be collectively brain washed to supporting the same people stealing their wealths

Exactly, The ensuing conflict on judgments is making mockery of our national judiciary.

Icecomrade:
I think this confirms PDP allegations on the bias of the judiciary to favour the APC ruling party.

This government interefence on our judiciary is becoming rudely overbearing.

This news may not go down well with APC e-war lords

what is this one saying? APC just lost at the appeal court in taraba case.

Icecomrade:
I think this confirms PDP allegations on the bias of the judiciary to favour the APC ruling party.

This government interefence on our judiciary is becoming rudely overbearing.

This news may not go down well with APC e-war lords

You're the true definition of an ekpa, what makes your case worse is that you can't be redeemed...

Alex Otti & Darius' Appeals yall have been silent on cos they align with your sentiments! !! No bias then abi??

God will help your situation...

PassingShot:
I hope they heed the advice.



You're right. Where the judgments have favoured PDP, there were no contradictions. But where they favoured APC, there were. Jesters!

from this piece of work ds is what u still have to say? well it is because u know nothing about the judicial precedent the CJN is talking about.
go to school u refused.

Also tell bubu to start obeying court orders

wait

THIS IS A RECKLESS STATEMENT COMING FROM MUHAMMED BUHARI SHOULD SACK HIM HE WAS APPOINTED BY JONATHAN HE STILL LOYAL TO PDP VERY OBVIOUS