Disrepute in Supreme Courts

In as much as Nigeria claims to be practising an inappropriate “American style of democracy,” perhaps it’s fitting that the supreme courts of both countries have simultaneously fallen into disrepute. The USA’s Supreme Court ruling which shamefully overturned Roe v Wade undermined the rights of women to decide what happens to their bodies and perhaps more importantly negated the raison d’etre of the institution. Supreme courts exist because litigation cannot be endless and at some point a final and binding ruling must be made. The current US Supreme Court has negated that principle by overturning a ruling which has been in force for over 50 years. They have now certified that legal precedent is meaningless and litigation is now an endless process! It should only be expected that years from now when the current justices are also dead, a more liberal open-minded, less religiously bigoted supreme court will also overturn their ruling. Even worse, the personal integrity of the newly appointed justices, who supported the ruling, has been rubbished because during their confirmation hearings, they vehemently denied any intention of disrespecting precedent and overturning landmark rulings. America is now stuck with unprincipled, religiously bigoted ideologically and politically motivated conservative justices whose only goal is to serve the interests of the Republican Party and reverse gains in civil rights which offend their conservative values.

It is becoming increasingly clear to lovers of American liberties that it was a great mistake to appoint supreme court justices for life. They believed that such appointees would always be people of honour and conscience who would place the interests of the nation above their personal prejudices. Now they know better. Prior to overturning Roe v Wade, the US Supreme Court had never rescinded the rights of individuals and conferred them upon states.

The US Chief Justice Clarence Thomas, an African American, exposed his self-righteous bias by condemning legalised gay rights and consensual sexual behaviour but supporting the previously illegal interracial marriage simply because he is married to a white lady. Neither of course did he refer to the right to own slaves. It goes without saying that if the US Supreme Court was to rule that the right to own slaves should be left up to the states, most Republican-controlled states would re-introduce slavery within days! America appears to be moving into a dark age under the rule of unelected self-righteous conservative politicians camouflaged in judicial robes who are hell bent on rolling back civil liberties.

While the US Supreme Court brought itself into disrepute over issues concerning constitutional rights and the administration of law, the Nigerian Supreme Court also brought itself into disrepute by means of a leaked strongly worded letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) signed by 14 supreme court justices. Disappointingly, the aggrieved justices’ complaints were not about jurisprudence, perverse judgments, constitutional matters or indeed Justice Tanko’s superficial understanding of legal technicalities, but rather they centered on official corruption, administrative ineptitude, and their personal welfare.

The Nigerian Supreme Court has  since been described as the “lost hope of the common man.” Citizens have little confidence in their impartiality, actions and processes. Most Nigerians who listened to the confirmation proceedings of the “airplane driver” CJN were at a loss to understand why he was ever confirmed in the first place and how come his fellow justices expected good administration from his leadership.  In Nigeria, unlike in the USA, the relevance of the Supreme Court has little to do with enforcing citizens’ rights and more to do with politics and elections. The sheer incompetence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has led to an ever increasing number of election results being litigated against and overturned. Before the 2019 elections, there were 809 pending pre-election cases.  Post-election, there were over 1,500 litigations and 64 Certificates of Return had to be withdrawn.

During the recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ondo Branch Week, a legal luminary, Femi Falana, said, “Nigeria is the only country in the whole world where courts elect leaders…” Quite condemnably, the apex court installed several governors and legislators who didn’t win elections. The ruling in Imo State in particular was scandalous. Rather than order a rerun election, the court affirmed the ruling party’s candidate, Governor Uzodinma, as the “winner” despite coming fourth in the polls! He is widely ridiculed publicly and referred to as “Supreme Court Governor”. To restore confidence in the Supreme Court, it is vital for justices to make rulings without interference or bias based solely on law and facts.  

The level of acrimony, bitterness and injustice in the just concluded party primaries is expected to result in record-breaking numbers of litigations concerning the 2023 elections. They will all end up in the disgruntled Supreme Court.  At least no matter how outlandish or illogical their ruling will be, it will be final and binding unlike in America.